Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty

An Intimate Portrait of My Grandmother

By: Kate Hennessy

Narrated by: Randye Kaye

Dorothy Day (1897-1980) was a prominent Catholic, writer, social activist, and cofounder of a movement dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor. Her life has been revealed through her own writings as well as the work of historians, theologians, and academics. What has been missing until now is a more personal account from the point of view of someone who knew her well.

Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty is a frank and reflective, heartfelt and humorous portrayal as written by her granddaughter, Kate Hennessy. Dorothy Day challenges ideas of plaster saints and of saintly women. Day is an unusual candidate for sainthood. Before her conversion, she lived what she called a "disorderly life", during which she had an abortion and then gave birth to a child out of wedlock. After her conversion she was both an obedient servant and a rigorous challenger of the church. She was a prolific writer whose books are still widely read. While tenderly rendered, this account will show her as driven to do good but dogmatic, loving but judgmental, in particular with regards to her only daughter, Tamar. She was also full of humor and laughter and could light up any room she entered.

©2017 Catherine Hennessy (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A rare glimpse into the life of one of America's most revered social activists.... Fascinating, well-told, candid, and tender." ( Kirkus)

I appreciated this story

I had certainly heard of Dorothy Day, but knew very little about her. I appreciated all the details of the family constellation and the issues they faced. Interesting that her granddaughter was able to come up with so much. However, For about the first third of the book I felt like she was throwing around names that didn’t mean anything to me and that I, didn’t know — didn’t know who they were or what they meant to the story. There was some of that throughout the book. But many of the characters were introduced in the course of things. It did make me consider going back to the beginning and trying to understand better who those folks were that I had not “met” when their names came up.

The Day family lived with values that at once I admired and also I thought might be be robbing the children of some things that I consider essential. Much to think about.

Kate Hennessy's Magnificent Portrait

If you could sum up Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty in three words, what would they be?

Intimate, authentic, challenging

What did you like best about this story?

Kate Hennessy's book is not only a portrait of her grandmother, Dorothy Day, but also a moving account of the life of her mother, Tamar. The richness of their relationship, the calling of the work of the Catholic Worker and the joys, struggles and beauties make this a book to savor. If this is the first book that you are to read on Dorothy Day, I suggest that you first pick up one of Dorothy's books like On Pilgrimage, Loaves and Fishes or The Long Loneliness. Read one of these first and then immediately read Kate's book. Although the Catholic Worker started 85+ years ago, the writing by and about Dorothy Day are even more powerful today.

Which scene was your favorite?

The ending was stunningly beautiful. For Kate to return to multi-generational relationships between mothers and daughters was very rich. There were many scenes at the Catholic Worker either in NYC or at the farms that were challenging. I had lived in a Catholic Worker House for 3 years and it brought back many fond memories AND anxieties!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it is a book that needed to be listen to over a good length of time in order to reflect on her words and the life of Dorothy Day

Any additional comments?

It is too bad that Kate Hennessy was not asked to be the reader. I have listened to her present on her book tour and she would have been fabulous. There is something intimate and beautiful in this book that would have been enhanced by subtle inflections had Kate been the reader.

A very human saint

Would you consider the audio edition of Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty to be better than the print version?

No. They each have merit.

What other book might you compare Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty to and why?

Dwight D Eisenhower: In war and Peace

What about Randye Kaye’s performance did you like?

Beautiful voice to listen to

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Beatitudes

Any additional comments?

This book brings a wonderful person to life. Her autobiography is good, she was being as truthful as she could, but this one brings into focus her humanity and her love and her errors. I feel better about my life errors knowing that such a great soul experienced the same.

Well written ~ Difficult to listen to :(

Dorothy Day's life was a fully human, luminous one. She was a gift to the world with flaws, passion, conviction, and intelligence. This account is indeed an intimate portrait and a welcome addition to other books about her life.

It's unfortunate that someone else wasn't selected to read this. Why not Kate Hennessy herself? This particular narrator is thoroughly patronizing in tone and utterly grating on the ear. It seems a disservice to the story. 14 hours of it leaves one with an excellent example of how to NOT read a biography of a near saint.

Great book...

Loved the book, another great piece of history worth knowing...I recommend this to all readers.

I’ve met Dorothy Day

Before listening to this book I was a Dorothy Day skeptic relegating her to the corner of liberals. In this book I’ve met a woman whose story must inspire our day and age.

Lovely

An absolutely lovely book about the real life and trials of a saint and the hardships of being a daughter and granddaughter to a saint.

Great content.HORRIBLE Narration. Cannot listen.

What disappointed you about Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty?

Heard about Kate Hennessy's book on NPR's Fresh Air. Super excited to listen, moved by the faith and works of Dorothy Day. Overwhelmed by the single worst choice of narration I could imagine. The depth and breadth of Dorothy Day, her work, her voice, and the writing of Ms. Hennessy were lost. Completely. Utterly. Totally. I had to stop after 20 minutes. Unbelievably honeyed, singsong, grating, overly dramatic; a cross between the voice telling you the subway is coming, a Google Maps voice, and a poorly cast rendition of the original Stepford Wives film. Here is an individual of such soul, groundedness, faith, courage, and character, drowned out by a voice so suburban, Wonderbread, out-of-character, and read like every single line was the most important line ever, and that the audience was made up of kindergartners for storytime. Joan Cleaver had more soul. Waste of money. Bought the book. Hoping to get an audio refund.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Worst ever. Truly terrible. If my eardrums could bleed, this would do it.

Not focused on Dorothy Day; Heavy

I felt as if this book wasn’t as focused on Dorothy Day as I would have liked. It discussed Tamar and her children significantly. I can handle heavy topics, but this felt unnecessarily so at times. It went into the weeds about Tamar’s ex husband’s prior relationship with a man that was fated to end in heartbreak in a Catholic setting. I didn’t feel this was necessary given his peripheral relationship to Dorothy herself.