The Divine Office for Dodos: A Step-By-Step Guide to Praying the Liturgy of the Hours Paperback – January 1, 2008

This book IS wonderful and a great purchase! And I had no problem obtaining it from Amazon. I do NOT understand the FEW Negative Nancies who did not like this book! Two reviewers seemed to have big-time problems with the ribbons...Look, if you have difficulties with putting ribbons in books, you might have bigger concerns than learning the Divine Office! Some reviewers also seemed to have an issue with Nugent's tone and/or humor. I found her delightfully refreshing, and tastefully sweet and appropriate- especially when one considers the context. She makes learning a very serious subject like the Divine Office more light-hearted and fun. I mean really, what did these guys want or expect? The author to be a combination of Bill Cosby and Aristotle? An author like that would detract from the subject matter- lighten up!Before I found out about "The Divine Office for D.O.D.O.S," I had purchased another guide to praying the Divine Office that Amazon also sells, entitled "Lord, Open My Lips." It is more concise than "The Divine Office for D.O.D.O.S," but NOT necessarily more clear. I thought the author to "Lord, Open My Lips" was competent, but had the personality of a plate. Consequently, I quickly grew bored with "Lord, Open My Lips," and as a result, did not learn to pray the Divine Office. With "The Divine Office for D.O.D.O.S," I learned to pray the Divine Office. Objective achieved. I agree with all the compliments and positive comments about this book which is given in the editorial review and customer reviews. Enjoy, and God Bless!

As a lifelong Catholic I was surprised at how difficult it was to follow and participate in the liturgy of the hours. It is frustrating that the church continues to make something so beautiful,… so difficult. This book helps Navigate the legalism of the liturgy of the hours. I would highly recommend this book to help you in enjoying and discerning the liturgy of the hours to its fullest.

The "Dodos" book made it possible to learn how to pray the entire Divine Office (all 7 Hours) within 2 months on my own. As others have reviewed, the author's tone can be a bit irritating. But please don't hold that against Ms. Nugent. After awhile, I simply ignored the tone and paid attention to the substance of what was being taught. The world made accessible through The Liturgy of the Hours should not be missed.With (1) the "Dodos" book, (2) the Offices contained in either the full Breviary (4 Volumes in the U.S. & 3 Volumes in the UK -- I suggest buying the volume of the Season you're in for starters) OR the 1-Volume shorter Breviary, and (3) the day's examples from either [...] (to make sure I was getting the day's Psalms and scriptures right, by example), you'll soon be immersed in a truly wonderful experience. I can't recommend the "Dodos" book highly enough. I refer to the book often. The parts of praying the Offices I couldn't understand at first, became clear over time. Worth every bit of time and effort I spent, with Ms Nugent's help along the way.

This makes it easier to understand the Liturgy of the Hours, in a directed manner. It is clear to the point and I enjoy the writing style of the author. This can be a very dry subject and is a simpler outline / instruction. I am satisfied with the book. It serves my purpose as I am not astute in this area anyway. I did not mind the author's humor. It was not offensive to me. I imagine if you are very religious and serious it could be objectionable.

I found the author's method of question-asking very comforting. It was like having your very wise grandmother take you through the ageless prayer life of the Church. The corny jokes and conversational style were charming to me. Who wants to read through boring, dry formulas for page-turning? I'd rather "listen" to someone like this author, who makes the maze of the Office less daunting and less of an academic exercise.I ordered the bookmarks and ribbons, but decided after a while to go minimalist and use the ribbons already provided with my Christian Prayer. Eventually as we get more comfortable with the Divine Office we won't need so many props, but it's great to have them in the beginning.When I ordered Christian Prayer through Amazon from Adoremus Books I got the St. Joseph Guide for the current year for free. I'd recommend buying that guide if you don't already have it, but buy locally if you can to avoid shipping costs for that little pamphlet. It gives you page numbers so you can make sure you're at the right sections. It's especially handy for some of the newer saints' days, like St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, who doesn't have a write-up in the Propers of her own. I also recommend checking out divineoffice.org during the learning process, especially on Saturday nights or for the Propers, to make sure you're adding all the unwritten parts as you need to.

Instructions were a bit confusing

I'm finding the book very helpful. Maybe I'm a nerd, but I actually appreciate the humor. Other people complained about it, but I find it relaxing. It is so much more complicated to learn how to pray the Divine Office than I ever imagined it could be. I have a Ph. D., and it's still complicated! This book is definitely helping. I haven't ordered the bookmarks she talks about in her book, but I think I'm going to have to because it is just that complicated to learn to pray the Divine Office and I don't really have time to make my own what with the Ph.D.-related job and the toddler. But she does give detailed instructions on how to make your own in case you'd like to save yourself the $10 for the bookmark and ribbon system. Anyway, I think this is a really great book for learning how to do this. I can't imagine a book doing a better job. I'm grateful that someone has written a book like this or I would be completely lost in learning how to do thi.

I found this book exceptionally helpful in learning to pray the Liturgy of the hours. This lady knows how to approach the difficult lay out of the Liturgy of the hours. The tab system is a bit awkward but you may discover you don't need every one.

If you are new to the divine office and are finding it difficult to learn then this is a must have book, it takes you though step by step, it also gives a quiz after each stage so when you have learned a particular section and passed the test you can then continue to the next stage, this allows you to go at your own pace. It also gives background and a brief history of the divine office throughout the book, i found this book simple and easy to follow and a big help.

So detailed and perfect for helping understand how to pray the divine office!

This is a perfect book to bridge any gap between a lack of understanding of how to use the Divine Office prayer structure with actually 'praying' it.... i once found the Divine Office a mystery of difficulty, and was perplexed with intrigue at how others in community used it with such charisma and ease.... after reading this book, and checking my learning as i progressed through the chapters, i too am managing my prayer with grace and ease.

Very good guide to the reading of the LITURGY OF THE HOURS, as I was a first time user of the 4 tome set.