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  • All Is Grace: A Biography of Dorothy Day
  • Anne Klejment
All Is Grace: A Biography of Dorothy Day. By Jim Forest. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2011. 344 pp. $27.00.

All Is Grace provides today’s readers with an accessible and comprehensive biography that should better meet their needs. Jim Forest’s compelling and attractive book offers a sympathetic yet balanced portrait of Day, one of the best of recent efforts to appraise [End Page 73] the legacy of one of the twentieth century’s most consistent advocates of and witnesses for gospel nonviolence. It bears slight resemblance to a thin and less satisfying 1986 predecessor, entitled Love Is the Measure (1st edition), garishly jacketed in a harsh and dreadful illustration of Day smoking a cigarette. Those unfamiliar with Day’s life and work will find a handsome and well crafted volume that should encourage further exploration of her life and writings. For those familiar with The Long Loneliness, Forest’s insights into Day’s spiritual struggles and his dynamic portrayal of her entire life will fill in some blanks.

This new volume draws from the best published primary sources, many of the key secondary works, and the recollections of Forest and others from the Catholic Worker network. Intended as a popular biography, readers will first be drawn to the attractive layout, which boasts lavish use of photos and illustrations – many of them never before published – on virtually each page. Sidebar quotations from Day’s writings, Robert Ellsberg’s contribution to the work, highlight her personality, spirituality, and the extraordinary humanness and humanity of a holy person whose influence lives in those touched by her example and her writings. Crisp prose, expert narration of her rich and complex private and public life, lively character development, and efforts to provide historical context ensure that those who limit their study of Day to this one volume will have encountered an unforgettable companion whose daily struggle to follow the promptings of her conscience deepens her authenticity.

More than other public figures in twentieth-century United States history, Day willed to live a life dedicated to care for those in need combined with a spiritual vision of a nonviolent revolution that could take place if each Christian committed to loving God and neighbor. For Catholics, Day’s example at the Catholic Worker proved the value of spiritually mature lay leadership years before Vatican II encouraged it. [End Page 74]

A final chapter reflects on Forest’s long association with Day. From the volume, all will understand the dimensions of her personal sacrifice to become a Catholic and to found and head the Catholic Worker movement. Forest’s use of Day’s published journals and letters effectively documents the strength of Day’s faith when she chose to end her domestic partnership with Forster Batterham, the father of her child, and in her ability to weather daily crises while living in an intentional community consisting of many needy and unbalanced individuals.

All Is Grace should meet the needs of students and the general public. Study groups, high school and college students, and individual readers will discover an engaging personality, at once attracted to home and family and to God and humankind.

Anne Klejment
University of St. Thomas
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