Sign-In
Cart
Work in Progress: Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool, and Priest
Hardcover
Biographies GeneralChristian LivingSelf-Help
Publisher Price: $29.99
ISBN13: 9780062694485
Publisher: HarperOne
Published: Feb 3 2026
Pages: 368
Weight: 1.35
Height: 1.50 Width: 6.10 Depth: 9.40
Language: English
New York Times Bestseller
In this humorous memoir, New York Times bestselling author and podcast host of The Spiritual Life, Father James Martin tells the story of a busboy, dishwasher, caddy, usher, factory worker, bank teller, and corporate tool and, finally, a Jesuit priest.
Funny, charming, inspiring and wise--this is a memorable memoir. -- Stephen Colbert
Work in Progress is a snapshot of several years--first as a boy, then as a teenager, and finally as a young adult--of being thrown into a series of jobs for which Martin had zero training. He had never set foot in a restaurant kitchen before working as a busboy and dishwasher; never stepped onto a golf course before working as a caddy; and had never seen a factory floor before working as an assembly-line worker. He almost always felt uncomfortable, unsettled, and uneasy. But, like many of us, he needed the money.
This coming-of-age story is set in the 1960s and 1970s, a lighthearted tale for readers who enjoy personal narratives, and it's unlike anything Father Martin has written before. As he puts it, This is a spiritual memoir from a different angle ... told 'slant' as Emily Dickinson might say.
Each chapter features photos of memories and milestones throughout Father Martin's young life. If you're an aficionado of snafus, you won't be disappointed. He's not the hero of these stories, more a hapless teenager who learns in each job, even the ones he loathes, something about the value of work, about what it means to be an adult, about people, and about life overall.
Work in Progress teaches us small but important life lessons such as:
- work hard and be on time,
- don't be mean, apologize when you need to, and forgive frequently,
- ask if you don't know something,
- don't misuse power,
- pay attention to those who are struggling,
- listen and, above all, be kind.
Martin shares, My summer jobs, crazy and funny and varied as they were, had something to do with who I am. As we Jesuits would say, the lessons I learned helped to 'form me.
Also from
Martin, James
No Bullsh*t Branding: A Step-By-Step Guide to Discover, Design, and Deliver Your Brand
Martin, James
Made by James
Hardcover
Uncharted: A Rediscovered History of Voyages to the Americas Before Columbus
Wallace-Murphy, Tim
Martin, James
Paperback
An Adult Coloring Book Featuring Portraits of Diverse Black Men: Celebrating Black Men Through Art
Martin, James
Paperback
The Elements Of Euclid: Containing The First Six Books, Chiefly From The Text Of Dr. Simson (1874)
Martin, James
Euclides
Simson, Robert
Paperback
Presidential Transition in Higher Education: Managing Leadership Change
Martin, James
Samels, James E.
Paperback
Operational Excellence: Breakthrough Strategies for Improving Customer Experience and Productivity
Martin, James
Hardcover
Commentary On the Books of Kings; Volume 1
Murphy, James Gracey
Martin, James
Keil, Carl Friedrich
Paperback
The Angler's Guide: The Most Complete and Practical Ever Written: Containing Every Instruction Neces
Martin, James
Hardcover
Commentary On the Books of Kings; Volume 1
Keil, Carl Friedrich
Murphy, James Gracey
Martin, James
Hardcover
The Angler's Guide: The Most Complete and Practical Ever Written: Containing Every Instruction Neces
Martin, James
Paperback
Biblical Commentary On the Old Testament; Volume 3
Martin, James
Keil, Carl Friedrich
Delitzsch, Franz
Paperback
The Gospel History: a compendium of critical investigations in support of the historical character of the four gospels
Ebrard, Johann H. a.
Martin, James
Bruce, Alexander B.
Paperback
Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel
Delitzsch, Franz
Keil, Carl Friedrich
Martin, James
Paperback
Biblical Commentary On the Old Testament; Volume 3
Delitzsch, Franz
Martin, James
Keil, Carl Friedrich
Hardcover
Grad Buacaill Eire = (An Irish Boy's Love) [microform]: an Irish Drama in Four Acts
Martin, James
Paperback
Sales Support Operations: How to Use Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization Applications to Improve Processes
Martin, James
Paperback
Sales Support Operations: How to Use Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization Applications to Improve Processes
Martin, James
Hardcover
Also in
Biographies General
Bluesland: Portraits of Thirteen Major American Blues Masters
Pete Welding (ED.)
Toby Byron (ED.)
Hardcover
Karl Popper - The Formative Years, 1902 1945: Politics and Philosophy in Interwar Vienna
Hacohen, Malachi Haim
Hardcover
The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome: 150 Bc0-400 AD
Freeman, Charles
Hardcover
Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman's Lifelong Discovery of Whisky
Sackier, Shelley
Hardcover
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Isaacson, Walter
Hardcover
An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Fight for Native Liberation in One Family on Two Continents Over Three Centuries
Correia, David
Hardcover
Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s
Howe, Sean
Hardcover
Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
Cooper, Christian
Hardcover
The Secret Life of the Savoy: Glamour and Intrigue at the World's Most Famous Hotel
Williams, Olivia
Paperback
The Badger: The Life of Bernard Hinault and the Legacy of French Cycling
Fotheringham, William
Paperback
Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work: The Rise of Womens Political Culture, 1830-1900
Sklar, Kathryn Kish
Paperback
The Devil's Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich
Wittman, Robert K.
Kinney, David
Paperback
Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives
Cordingly, David
Paperback
Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything
Ehrenreich, Barbara
Paperback
The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry
Cherington, Gretchen
Paperback
My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love
Dessa Wander
Hardcover
Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Giuffre, Virginia Roberts
Hardcover
How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself
Lawson, Jenny
Hardcover
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground
Dohrn, Zayd Ayers
Hardcover
Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
Kuehn, Christine
Hardcover
Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast
Colloff, Pamela
Hardcover
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Paperback