By Little and by Little: The Selected Writings

by Robert Ellsberg

These selections from Dorothy Day's several books, her published articles, and her columns in The Catholic Worker are a revelation of an extraordinary, redemptive life, from her conversion to Catholicism in 1926 (which shocked her radical friends) to her later years of "retirement," when others ran the paper for her. The writing is meditative, ironical, combative, filled with love for the extensive Catholic Worker family, and suffused with her sense of the "holy sublimity of the everyday."

Genres: Religion, Christianity, Biography, Politics, Social Justice

371 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1983

Reviews

[Katherine Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book I would have chosen on my own. It was chosen for me by my seminary instructor. That said, I did actually enjoy this book and the ease of Day's prose gives voice to many truths. I feel like this particular selection of writings skims over Day's unhappy love affair, abortion, and her subsequent marriage to Berkeley Tobey. As Day was a very introspective woman, I would have appreciated more excerpts on this time of her life and how her perspective on that time changed after her conversion and as she grew into her life's work. I would have like to have seen more from The Eleventh Virgin, her earliest book, to get a more complete picture.

There are many quotes that I enjoyed in this book, but this one cautioned me and stuck with me the most, as I am a postulant to the priesthood with my own ministry ahead of me:

“But there was another question in my mind. Why was so much done in remedying the evil instead of avoiding it in the first place? Where were the saints to try to change the social order, not just to minister to the slaves, but to do away with slavery?
“Religion as it was practiced by those I encountered had no vitality. It had nothing to do with everyday life; it was a matter of Sunday praying.”

[Jonnali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't finish the book (bc it was due at the library and I was moving), but what I did read I really vibed with. Dorothy Day was an amazing and humble woman who exemplified Christ honestly in her life. She was a part of beginning hospitality houses and truly put others before herself. She also seems to have told it like it was.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of Dorothy Day's writing ranging from her books (The Long Loneliness, From Union Square to Rome, Loaves and Fishes) as well as her regular essays publishes in the Catholic Worker. I'm realizing that this is not a book to borrow from the library, but rather a book to own. Ms Day's thoughts make you ponder and that's what you should do.

[Andrew Sydlik]

Probably won't finish this for a long while, but it's an interesting look into the life of a courageous woman who lived her faith in God, belief in serving humanity, and opposition to the corruption of oppressive political and social systems.

[Sheila]

Profound

[WndyJW · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a single mother back in college. Very inspirational. One doesn't have to be perfect to make a difference and meet people where they are if you want to really help them.

[Paul Williford · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my five favorite books.