Dorothy Day, John Loughery
Dorothy Day, John Loughery
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Dorothy Day
Dissenting Voice of the American Century

Author: John Loughery, Blythe Randolph

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Unabridged: 17 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/03/2020


Synopsis

“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 fifty 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).

About John Loughery

John Loughery is the author of four previous books: Alias S. S. Van DineJohn Sloan: Painter and RebelThe Other Side of Silence: Men’s Lives and Gay Identities, a Twentieth Century History; and Dagger John: Archbishop John Hughes and the Making of Irish America, two of which were New York Times Notable Books. His biography of John Sloan was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Biography. He lives in New York.

About Blythe Randolph

Blythe Randolph is a native of Richmond, Virginia, and a graduate of Hollins College and the University of Virginia. She is the author of previous biographies of Amelia Earhart and of Charles Lindbergh. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and three rescue dogs.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Amy on January 01, 2009

This book, this woman changed my life. At the time I read it, I was myself an agnostic (and former fundamental protestant) and a single mama. I was so powerfully moved by her conversion experience and authentic life of voluntary poverty. I especially related to her opposition to institutions, and he......more

Goodreads review by Fr. Peter on April 25, 2016

A vivid portrait of Dorothy Day. While I don't think the author fully appreciates Day's Catholic faith, this synthesis of his many long interviews with her left me with the impression of having sat down to tea with the woman herself. A short and simple read, I recommend "Dorothy Day: A Radical Devot......more

Goodreads review by Sara Lowe on June 08, 2023

i love her :’)......more

Goodreads review by Ellena on June 06, 2024

Great follow-up to ‘The Long Loneliness.’......more

Goodreads review by Larry on June 27, 2016

This is a book about a woman whom I have admired for a long time. It was written by a man who spent many years talking to Dorothy Day and reading her books. Her autobiography The Long Loneliness is referred to often as are a number of her other books. Dorothy Day died in 1980. She converted to Catho......more