The Servant of God Dorothy Day has a new critical biography penned by accomplished biographers John Loughery and Blythe Randolph. According to the NYTimes review of the book, the authors viewed their subject as “challenging and complex.” Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice of the American Century is a portrait of Day but it is incorrect to claim that it is the first in 40 years. There are a few other biographies of Dorothy Day published in recent years. I look forward to delving into the Loughery and Randolph volume; my hope is that they did not merely perpetuate the same old cliches. But I doubt it. Already in the review one gets the sense that Day is treated more as a political person than someone who encountered Jesus Christ and desired to live in creative tension and toward the Gospel and the Tradition of the Catholic Church. Terms used to describe Day without due attention to her relationship with Christ and the Mystical Body of Christ are misleading. Happy reading.
The review can be read here.