Talbot, along with well-known Catholic writer and speaker Mike Aquilina, weave the autobiographical moments within the context of JMT's discovery of the early Church Fathers. One might be tempted to think this would produce an uneven work, but I can assure you this is the best spiritual autobiography that I've read in some years.
Chapter 4 is worth the price of the book alone. In Chapter 4, Talbot relates how he was first introduced to the Church Fathers via St Francis of Assisi. His attraction to St Francis led him to search out how this great saint had been formed, which led him to the Desert Fathers of Egypt and the other early Church Fathers. He proceeds to highlight how he discovered the Apostolic Fathers, and in particular The Didache. He comes to realize that the Catholic Church "is the same Church I encountered in the works of the Apostolic Fathers" (p. 64). "The Church, in fact, was the ordinary means of salvation established by Jesus, and it applied salvation by means of the sacramental mysteries, also established by Jesus" (pp. 63-64).
There is, of course, so much more to The Ancient Path.
But after discovering the Church Fathers and the depth of the Christian faith in seminary, and through the work of Tom Oden, Talbot's autobiographical account only revitalizes that depth for me. For any of those who think the Church Fathers have nothing to contribute, this is the book for you.
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I received this book free, from the Blogging for Books program, in exchange for my honest review.