In Good Company - 10th Edition by James Martin Sj (Paperback)

About the Book

In this account of his remarkable journey from corporate America to the Society of Jesus, Martin leads readers from his Catholic childhood through his success and ultimate dissatisfaction with the business world to his novitiate and profession of vows as a Jesuit. Fast-paced, compelling, and often humorous, Martin's story explores the human quest for a life well-lived.

Book Synopsis

The story of one young man's remarkable journey from corporate America to the Society of Jesus. James Martin leads readers from his Catholic childhood through his success and ultimate dissatisfaction with the business world, to his novitiate and profession of vows as a Jesuit. This Tenth Anniversary Edition features a new preface by the author.

Review Quotes

In Good Company tells this seeker's powerful story with humor and grace. The book's gems of wisdom will appeal to anyone seeking meaning in daily life. Fast-paced, compelling, and often humorous, his story offers a fresh, inside look at corporate America, the Jesuit vocation, and the human quest for a life well-lived.

An engaging account of his journey from successful businessman to vowed Jesuit . . . inviting, sane, grateful and gracious.

For all those considering a vocation, or needing a reminder about the vocation they chose, Father Martin's journey towards 'seeing life whole' is well worth traveling.

Martin has a frank, straightforward style reminiscent of the young Thomas Merton, but just a bit more polished....If you know nothing about prayer and a life of service, you can find it all in this unstuffy, unselfconscious book. And if you know everything about prayer and a life of service, you will start over at the beginning and learn it all again.

Martin here presents a lively narrative of how he, a yuppie in the corporate world, found riches of a different kind by joining the Society of Jesus. A consummate raconteur with a keen eye for detail, Martin carries the reader along with his vivid prose and his ebullient humor. It's a book for just about everyone who can read.

Martin is both a natural storyteller and a self-effacing fellow, and he pairs that to fine effect in this honest and accessible story.

Praise for the first edition:

From the Wharton Business School and a secure place in corporate America to a $35-a-month allowance and the insecurity of a life of faith. This may seem a precautionary tale of downward secular mobility, but as we follow James Martin through his life and Jesuit training, we find it is all about ascent--to God and to true happiness.


Praise for the first edition:

The finest book on finding religious vocation since Thomas Merton's Secular Journal.


Praise for the first edition:

The story of James Martin's 'fast track' from GE to the Jesuits is confirmation, if any were needed, that God has a sense of humor. The pursuit of happiness is ultimately inseparable from the call to holiness. Martin has written a Seven Storey Mountain for a new generation of seekers.


Praise for the first edition:

This engaging and entertaining book packs a double punch: the world of the Jesuits, which at first is unfamiliar if not downright mysterious, comes to seem a sane way of living in the world, while what we think of as the 'normal' world of corporate America is revealed as very strange indeed. James Martin has given us some savory food for thought.

About the Author

James Martin, S.J., is culture editor of America magazine and the author of several books, including the award-winning My Life with the Saints. He has contributed to numerous publications, including Commonweal, U.S. Catholic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and beliefnet.com. Father Martin lives in New York City.