By Little and by Little: Selected Writings by Dorothy Day

By Little and by Little: Selected Writings Reviews

• 
  Katherine Wren

  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.”
  
• 
  Robin

  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.
• 
  WndyJW

  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

  One of my five favorite books.