In Constant Prayer by Robert Benson was a huge disappointment.  He took 150 pages to say what he could have said in 15.  Though I appreciate his heartwarming and endearing writing style it seemed a bit misplaced in this particular book in this particular series.

At the end of the day, In Constant Prayer was more of a memoir about Benson’s own personal journey in praying the “offices.”  Benson’s journey aside, very little helpful information is actually shared about this ancient practice.    The most helpful part of the book was the first appendix where he includes some samples for praying the morning office.

Readers interested in learning more about praying the offices will find more information on Wikipedia than in reading this book.  I think this book was completely mis-packaged.  It should have Robert Benson’s picture on the front.  It really is more about him than actual prayer.

I believe Mr. Benson to be a very talented and gifted writer.  However, if you are looking for information, this book doesn’t have much.  And the information it does contain comes hidden in the lengthy memoir of Mr. Benson’s prayer life.

The retail price is $17.99 (paperback), and is available around the web in places like Amazon.com for $11.48.  I gave it two stars.

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