Voices From Catholic Worker [Paperback]

Rosalie Troester (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 1993

This rich oral history weaves a tapestry of memories and experience from interviews, roundtable discussions, personal memoirs, and thorough research. In the sixtieth anniversary year of the Catholic Worker, Rosalie Riegle Troester reconfirms the diversity and commitment of a movement that applies basic Christianity to social problems. Founded in 1933 by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, the Catholic Worker has continued to apply the principles of voluntary poverty and nonviolence to changing social and political realities. Over 200 interviews with Workers from all over the United States reveal how people came to this movement, how they were changed by it, and how they faced contradictions between the Catholic Worker philosophy and the call of contemporary life. Here, vivid memoirs of Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and Ammon Hennacy are interwoven with accounts of involvement with labor unions, war resistance, and life on Catholic Worker farms. The author also addresses the Worker's relationship with the Catholic Church and with the movement's wrenching debates over abortion, homosexuality, and the role of women. Rosalie Riegle Troester is Professor of English at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is even more essential now than when these voices were first heard. It deals with a movement that is so much a symbol of American hope that it's in a class by itself. I strongly recommend Voices from the Catholic Worker."
—Studs Terkel

From the Publisher

Reflections on the past and future of a long-standing community

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Product Details

• Paperback: 632 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press (September 29, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566390591
• ISBN-13: 978-1566390590
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,485,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning the Roots-, August 1, 2000

By 

Karen Doerr - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voices From Catholic Worker (Paperback)

Four months ago I started volunteering at a fairly new Catholic Worker house in Akron, OH. I knew virtually nothing about The Worker; of course, I'd heard of Dorothy Day and even stayed in a Worker house on a weekend retreat but never thought to inquire into its history and philosophies. A good friend asked me to help her out at the Casa de la Paz (the Akron House), to get me out of the full-time work/college grind. I agreed and fell in love with the folks I came in contact with. Quickly I sank deeper and deeper into the house's struggles and joys (mostly joys) and picked up on the philosophies behind the movement. Aine, one of the house coordinaters, loaned me her copy of Voices from the Catholic Worker to read. An avid reader herself, she pointed out a couple in the book and directed my attention to a hand-written script in the first pages. "To Mary and Pat {Murray}, True Catholic Worker "lifers" and an inspiration to me. Love, Rosalie" I delved into the book and learned of a truly blessed movement through the mouths and lives of the people that helped withstain it. Folks like the Murrays, the Zarrellas, and other common people whose lives were transformed forever. Troester weaves the memories of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin and other prominent figures into a cohesive history that reads like a campfire conversation. Strangely intimate and familiar, one feels a friendship with the storytellers that delves the reader into the book and arrests his/her interest in the present. (My teapot screamed for minutes before I shook myself out of my reverie and answered its wail.) One of the best books I've read this year, it's a necessary read for those searching for a more intimate recount of the Catholic Worker history.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book, April 27, 2001

By 

sasha_ (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voices From Catholic Worker (Paperback)

Troester is only the editor of this book. The actual text is taken from interviews of Catholic Workers all over N America. Because of this, it's an all-encompassing book...with voices who are Catholic, Jewish, Athiest, Buddhist, and in-between...people who practice hospitality in different ways, running Shelters, Soup Kitchens, Farms, and also homes for kids...people with all sorts of different opinions and ages...and stories of all different sorts. No one person could possibly have written such an excellent book. Also, if you're hesitating about reading this book because you think it may be too Catholic, or too political, or too do-gooder, too conservative or too radical or what have you...then I suggest that there are so many voices in this book that this need not be a concern. Somewhere in this book there is a story of profound value for everyone.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical Philosophy, June 17, 2009

By 

P. J. Sullivan (Northern California USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Voices From Catholic Worker (Paperback)

The intellectual ferment at the Catholic Worker comes across in this book, which includes views ranging from those of prominent people to those of children. Catholic Workers are fiercely independent thinkers who take ideas seriously. Their roundtable discussions are not unlike those of the Transcendentalists at Boston and Brook Farm in the 1840s. But they don't live in ivory towers. They are in the front lines of the struggle for social justice. Practicing hands-on Christianity, they live with the broken people they serve, and have stories to tell that most people cannot even imagine! I especially liked the one about the Catholic Worker activist who was sentenced by a judge to do community service. I already do that, she replied, to the consternation of the judge.

This provocative book of practical philosophy covers the movement from every angle: why people join, why they leave, what they think about war and peace, usury and capitalism, going to jail for justice, community and family life, abortion, homosexuality, feminism, the Catholic church, and many other issues. No evasion of thorny issues here! There are insights from many Worker communities in the U.S. and Canada, plus interesting accounts of the history and personalities of the movement. A very lively and candid discussion!