Book excerpt: The volume approaches Greeleys novels by comparing him to the 19th-century French writer Honoré de Balzac. A prolific and popular author, Balzac recorded his milieu in tremendous detail, created a fictional universe peopled by hundreds of characters, and explored the role of Catholicism in his world. Because of his training as a sociologist, Greeley brings to his novels a thorough knowledge of popular culture and social theory. And because of his experience as a Roman Catholic priest, he has gained special knowledge of vice, virtue, and the workings of the Church. Like Balzac—now a major canonical author—Greeley has created a world of numerous fictional persons, mapped the details of his culture, and explored the place of Catholicism in contemporary life.