I had high expecations for this book. It seemed like the perfect marriage of author and subject. I wish Wills spent less time analyzing Augustine's sex life (felt like 85% of the book), and more time on this giant of Western intellectual history's spirituality and philosophy.

"In his opposition to Pelagius and Julian, to their circle of wealthy scholars who claimed to be living perfect Christian lives, Augustine voiced the daily concerns of his own community of far-from-perfect Christians. He pitted their common sense against Julian's boasted mastery of Aristotelian categories, then contrasted his own flock's faith with Julian's reason..."

"Augustine held that God is always creating, instant by instant; is illuminating the mind, even in "natural" thought, about spiritual things; is creating a mysterious echo of the Trinity in every intellectual creature, even Satan."

Garry Wills, Saint Augustine

I’m not sure what my expectations were for this slim bio, as I came in knowing almost nothing about St. Augustine. Wills is a well-regarded, prize-winning author (whom I’ve never read) and I hoped for something more readable and engaging. Perhaps this book is better suited for saint enthusiasts and those more seeped in Catholic history. Two and a half stars.

Not well written. Like reading wikipedia. Save your money.

See review written for this book but accidentally allocated to 'St Augustin's conversion' (not the book I read)

Here is a short study of the life of St Augustine. There is a lot of ground to cover, but not with action. Augustine was a man of letters and spent his time battling the heretics of the day. Life in the 4th and 5th centuries was quite different from today. Much of the saint's work still holds, but I wonder what here would think of today's church.

I wish I could have given this book a 2.5 rating because it was honestly as mid as they come. It’s a small book so I wasn’t expecting any great detail but I felt like the writing style tried to both tell the story of Augustine while introducing you to his writings at the same time. Ultimately I thought it did both things half way instead of synthesizing the two. I would have preferred a straight forward biography. That being said it’s useful due to how concise it is but if you want Augustine’s story I’d go somewhere else.

Not the best author in the Penguin Lives series. Not a really clear picture of Augustine, in that I don't even understand why he's considered a saint. Really more of a review his writings and musings as a bishop mostly in Africa.

I really enjoyed this sharp little biography of Augustine. It was really valuable to read an account by someone who is specifically a writer, not a historian or philosopher or religious scholar. Wills does a good job of evoking life in late antiquity and gearing his approach towards the layman rather than the academic--Peter Brown's biography of Augustine is much more in-depth, but a bit harder to read, as Brown delves more closely into religious theory. The strength of Wills's work is that it's written clearly and gives the reader a good understanding of what Augustine was all about in under 200 pages. The book is an excellent introduction to Augustine's life and works; Wills discusses the works themselves but also strives to put those works in the context of Augustine's life, his place in the world, and the world events (like the fall of Rome) that influenced them. Recommended!

Glad to get more perspective on Saint Augustine, who was a formative figure for Wills, one of my favorite authors.

I listened to the audio version and probably missed points as I did it traveling back and forth. I, however, learned a lot about this very complex and spiritual man. I want to now read more of his own writings.

There were probably many misconceptions of Augustine the bishop of hippo. In his time criminal confession were usually punishable by torture and the penitential system as confessional did not exist then. He lived in the Patristic Period which expanded from 100 to 700 Ammo Domini. Augustine's favorite Gospel in the Christian Scriptures is where the Son must testify to the Father, as the Spirit does to the Son.
It is in this to testify [confiteri, ti speak that which is truth. If the tongue and the heart are at odds, you are reciting, not testifying. What Augustine explores is on the human condition where challenges are many on the misconceptions and myths handed down through the ages that influenced thinking.

Augustine's life leads people to add sexual scenes and themes to his story; in incestuous feelings for his mother or homosexual feelings for his friend. The obsessive treatment of Augustine's supposed sexual obsession is in two well-known and repeated cited articles by modern psychiatrists.

They discuss the scene where Augustine's father sees him nude in the public baths and rejoices that he will become a grandfather, since Augustine had reached sexual maturity. "My childhood past," Augustine says,"My childhood past," Augustine says, "[I was:] clothed in unstable manhood {inquieta adulescentia]" This adjective is applied to Augustine's life.

Augustine sincerely experience his memories as drenched in God's grace. I try to look for books that will give the exact language and meaning to what was meant for the time and history. Quotes from Augustine is sought in my studies of the church for a better clarification in teaching the principles of Christ during this time period. We should accept and understand his theological language and unsuspected information about his life and the first half of the book covers his testimony.