Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty

An Intimate Portrait of My Grandmother

De: Kate Hennessy

Narrado por: 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

Reseñas de la Crítica

"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.

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.