Book Launch | Work in Progress: Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool, and Priest by Fr. James Martin, S.J.

Work in Progress is a coming-of-age memoir set in the 1960s and 1970s, tracing Father Martin’s early years as he stumbles—often unprepared—into a series of jobs he never imagined himself doing. From restaurant kitchens to golf courses to factory floors, he learns on the fly, usually uncomfortable and out of place, but always in need of a paycheck.

Told with humor and humility, this “spiritual memoir told slant” offers a fresh perspective on faith, work, and growing up. Illustrated with photographs from his youth, each chapter recounts small failures and quiet lessons, revealing how even the most disliked jobs can teach us about adulthood, human nature, and life itself.