Anonymous
Posted June 1, 2011
All Is Grace: a page turner indeed, a wonderful book. The balance between Dorothy Day's own words and the author's narrative is just right. Forest sets up the personal and historical context that makes the many direct quotations from Day's published and unpublished works alive, clear, apt. This biography reads like a well-paced novel. It's a very complex weaving together of the events of Day's life and the growth of the Catholic Worker movement to make a colorful and complete tapestry.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 9, 2011
I have read so many books and articles by and about Dorothy Day that I did not think I could learn more about this remarkable woman. Was I ever wrong! Jim Forest includes so many new facets about her thinking and life. I loved the layout with the quotes and pictures. I will reread this book many times and I highly recommend it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 17, 2011
I have most of the books written about Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement. This latest one is easy reading and the photos teach a lot about U.S. history and so much of what doesn't get into textbooks or mainstream media. She is one of my heroes and Jim Forest's writing style reinforces my deep appreciation of her witness to God's love and her personal invitation to each of us to Walk the Talk of gospel love.
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More About This Textbook
Overview
Dorothy Day (1897-1980), founder of the Catholic Worker movement and on of the most prophetic voices in the American Catholic Church, has recently been proposed as a candidate for canonization. In this lavishly illustrated biography, Jim Forest provides a compelling portrait of her heroic efforts to live out the radical message of the Gospel for our time.
A journalist and social reformer in her youth, Day surprised her friends with her decision in 1927 to enter the Roman Catholic Church. In the Catholic Worker, which she launched in 1933, she found a way to combine her faith with her compelling commitment to the poor and social justice. Day and those who joined her devoted themselves to the Works of Mercy while struggling to create a new society "where it is easier to be good." An ardent pacifist, Day was frequently arrested for her protests in the cause of peace and the rights of workers.
Drawing on Day's recently published diaries and letters, Forest chronicles her extraordinary journey, with special stress on the unique spiritual vision that underlay her dramatic witness.
Editorial Reviews
Publishers Weekly
There is much to be gained by studying the lives of great men and women. Human history is adorned by the lives of those able to see beyond themselves, to couple a vision of a better world with the energy and determination to make it happen. Dorothy Day was such a person. Founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and tireless advocate for the poor and oppressed, Day gathered around her people of similar passion and showed that even the least individual can make a difference. Forest, secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship, has done an admirable job of documenting Dorothy Day's remarkable life and career. Day's outward journey brought her to the far corners of the Earth seeking justice and peace. But it was her inner journey, which taught her "how to see Christ in every person," that ultimately defined her place in history. The struggle for dignity and equality continues. Day's life demonstrates that grace abounds in the human spirit, a grace that must define humans' ultimate destiny. (May)Product Details
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Table of Contents
May Day 1
From Brooklyn to San Francisco 4
Chicago 12
My Universities 21
From Jail to the Golden Swan 39
Kings County Hospital 48
Breaking Free 56
From New Orleans to Staten Island 64
Pregnancy, Faith, and Baptism 74
A Marriage That Never Happened 87
A Prayer in Washington 96
A Penny a Copy 105
Everyone's Paper 111
Ambassadors of God 120
Early Days 126
Striking Balances 134
To the Land! 144
The Works of Mercy versus the Works of War 152
A Lonely Single Parent 164
Retreats 171
Breathing in the Dead 182
The One-Man Revolution 196
Laughter in the Park 202
Bonds That Never Break 215
Concordances, Not Differences 223
A Time of Burning Children 237
Viva la Huelga! 252
Further Travels 261
A Strange Beauty 268
The View from the Window 279
The Mules Are Packed 292
Deo Gratias 301
Postscript: Saint Dorothy? 304
Dorothy Day: A Personal Remembrance 316
Sources and Resources 338
Index 341