For those unaware, Dorothy Day is sort of a proto-Red scare girl. She was a socialist activist who became a Catholic. Except, instead of becoming a lame, cringe-worthy reactionary, she actually managed to integrate Catholicism and socialism. Founding the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933, the organization seeks through charity, to build community without invalidating the individual. If you couldn't guess, she was big into the commune part of communism.
Her life could be the subject of an excellent biography (and there are probably a few out there), but that's not what this book is about. Rather, Dorothy uses her life as a pretext to explore the idea of "the long loneliness"—the urge that human beings have for one another, the eternal feeling of being incomplete. She posits that the solution to that problem is community.
I read the first third/half, and I think she's a solid writer. I thought the sections about her getting her first apartment, working for the first time, and the poverty of the city were great; visual, sensory writing. For some reason I put it down and haven't managed to pick it up again. I think I was hoping for something else. (For comparison, I read Thomas Merton's autobiography and loved it; he writes beautifully about faith, religious experiences, and his theological writing is really accessible.) Anyways, should I try again with a clearer perspective on what the book focuses on? Dorothy Day is a fascinating figure. Thanks for your review.