This book is a real gem for anyone with an interest in monastic spirituality, the Rule of Saint Benedict in particular, or the charisma that was Basil Pennington. He lived a remarkable life--a cloistered monk but also a world-traveler. A scholar but also with a great talent for making the wisdom of monastic life down to earth for those of us on the outside. He died in 2005 and these talks were given to the monks in Georgia during his time as abbot, there. As a Protestant man, I must say that I found them uplifting, informative, and instructive on how to live as husband, father, and son of God. There is also a two CD set of the talks themselves (the book is the transcription of the talks), available directly from the publisher. The audio talks remind me of the talks that Thomas Merton gave at Gethsemani back in the 1950s and 60s.