Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty: An Intimate Portrait of My Grandmother - Hardcover

Hennessy, Kate

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1501133969 ISBN 13: 9781501133961

Publisher: Scribner, 2017

Synopsis

The life and work of Dorothy Day—the iconic, celebrated, and controversial Catholic whom Pope Francis called a “great American”—told with illuminating detail by her granddaughter.

Dorothy Day (1897-1980) was a prominent Catholic, writer, social activist, and co-founder 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: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty 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 in print and 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.

An undisputed radical heroine, called “a saint for the occupy era” by The New Yorker, Day’s story unfolds against a backdrop of New York City from the 1910s to the 1980s and world events spanning from World War I to Vietnam. This thoroughly researched and intimate biography provides a valuable and nuanced portrait of an undersung and provocative American woman.

About this title

About the Author

Kate Hennessy is a writer and the youngest of Dorothy Day’s nine grandchildren. Her work has been included in Best American Travel Writing. She is the author of Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved By Beauty and, in collaboration with the photographer Vivian Cherry, Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker: The Miracle of our Continuance. Kate divides her time between Ireland and Vermont.

Review

"[I]ntensely interesting ... the images are kaleidoscopic."
—The Atlantic

"[A]n intimate, revealing and sometimes wrenching family memoir."
—The New York Times

"Hennessy’s biography unspools slowly, though not leisurely or even comfortably, as it is genuinely questing after personal and familial enlightenment, and tests of willpower, of facing the human weaknesses, blind errors, and hurtfulnesses of one you love, are the bitter of honesty. Her biography is also embracing – a cinematic documentary – so there is much to admire in this pilgrim’s progress."
—The Christian Science Monitor

"[A] deeply intimate and highly credible account ... Hennessy explores themes of integrity, vocation, and community, portraying Dorothy Day honestly in her gifts and faults. But the most powerful thread is raw beauty that links together the author to her grandmother, strangers to one another, and people to God."
—Sojourners

"[T]he striking story of this remarkable, but complicated woman."
—Relevant Magazine

"Like her grandmother, Hennessy is a writer of great skill, blending interviews, family letters, writings by Dorothy and other members of the Worker, and her own memories into a coherent whole ... Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty is a work of love, not greed or pride, and that's what gives it much of its beauty."
—Chicago Reader

"[B]eautifully written ... searingly honest."
—America Magazine

"This biography vividly conveys the vision and the adventure of this extraordinary woman who deserves to be called a saint."
—Spirituality and Practice

"Extraordinary ... moving and fascinating .. essential for anyone wishing to understand Dorothy Day — a true saint of our time."
—St. Anthony Messenger

"Fascinating, well-told, candid, and tender."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1501133969
• ISBN 13: 9781501133961
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384