Dorothy Day

Dissenting Voice of the American Century

By: John Loughery, Blythe Randolph

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

“Magisterial and glorious.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

The first full authoritative biography of Dorothy Day - American icon, radical pacifist, Catholic convert, and advocate for the homeless - is “a vivid account of her political and religious development” (Karen Armstrong, The New York Times).

After growing up in a conservative middle-class Republican household and working several years as a left-wing journalist, Dorothy Day converted to Catholicism and became an anomaly in American life for the next 50 years. As an orthodox Catholic, political radical, and a rebel who courted controversy, she attracted three generations of admirers. A believer in civil disobedience, Day went to jail several times protesting the nuclear arms race. She was critical of capitalism and US foreign policy and as skeptical of modern liberalism as political conservatism.

Her protests began in 1917, leading to her arrest during the suffrage demonstration outside President Wilson’s White House. In 1940 she spoke in Congress against the draft and urged young men not to register. She told audiences in 1962 that the US was as much to blame for the Cuban missile crisis as Cuba and the USSR. She refused to hear any criticism of the pope, though she sparred with American bishops and priests who lived in well-appointed rectories while tolerating racial segregation in their parishes.

Dorothy Day is the exceptional biography of a dedicated modern-day pacifist, an outspoken advocate for the poor, and a lifelong anarchist. This definitive and insightful account is “a monumental exploration of the life, legacy, and spirituality of the Catholic activist” (Spirituality & Practice).

©2020 John Loughery and Blythe Randolph (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio

Saints among us

In the same manner that The Lives of Saints have inspired countless along the road to holiness, this book about Dorothy Day does the same—timelessly reassuring readers that leaving the past behind and evolving with Love is the journey of faith for all. Her life is a story that reminds us all of the need to embody the beatitudes.

A woman for our time.

Her example, convictions, and wisdom are all the more essential for our world today. Dorothy Day might be one of the few people with the wisdom to keep our society from running headlong into self immolation.

Very helpful

Very helpful for a better understanding of Dorothy, particularly her Catholicism, and her personalism. Theories, ideas, and mystical longings put into practice in an interesting and challenging way.

Well Documented

This book stands far above so many written about Dorothy Day. The authors bring to light the facts of her active and amazing life in splendid detail. This shows the real Dorothy as none others have been able to do.

the Life and times!

Long but not too detailed. Dorothy is a favorite person in my heart, and ideal to be copied within my limited strength a place in life. The text offers many leads to further reading.

Was looking forward to this, but not what I had hoped for

Rolling account with lots of editorialism and some glaring inaccuracies, instead of focusing on Dorothy’s life and works. Disappointing.