D. Manzo

Baseball and the City

Revisado: 05-21-24

Combining baseball and NYC history was brilliant. Smooth and well told I appreciated that it gave an in depth perspective on the baseball in NYC and did not neglect Robert Moses or Jane Jacobs or LaGuardia. A few mispronunciations made me cringe. The team is the Baltimore “E”light Giants and I have no idea how Tony Lazzeri’s name got so mispronounced. Those are minuscule criticisms of a great audio book.

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How do we carry the love of God into the world?

Revisado: 05-17-17

Any additional comments?

See-Judge-Act
Be Attentive-Be Reflective-Be Loving

Eileen Markey’s excellent book, “A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sister Maura” confronts us with the critical question, “How do we carry the love of God into the world?”

Sister Maura Clarke, a Maryknoll Sister, served in Nicaragua from 1959 until 1977. In 1980, she answered Archbishop Oscar Romero’s call for Maryknoll Sisters to assist in El Salvador at a critical junction in that country’s history. Months after her arrival, members of the military of El Salvador assassinated her along with fellow missionaries Ita Ford, Dorothy Kazel and Jean Donovan.

I was fortunate to meet Sister Maura in Boston in early 1978. She was in the United States bring attention to the atrocities and poverty in Central America, while working out of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston (RCAB) Urban Planning Office. I served with Sister Maura for a brief period on the RCAB Peace and Justice Commission.

Markey perfectly described Sister Maura as “open hearted.” To her, “everyone mattered.”

Markey not only captures Sister Maura’s extraordinary work in Nicaragua and El Salvador, but also her spiritual and personal evolution from the pre-Vatican II era or obedience to a woman willing to stand in solidarity with the poor and oppressed at great personal risk each day.

Sister Maura after seeing actions and judging them to be unjust, knew she had to act. In other words she was attentive to the people she met, reflected on their conditions and then put her love into action.

Markey develops the key relationships in Sister Maura’s life – her family, her religious order and the people of Nicaragua and El Salvador. She beautifully bridges the struggles in Ireland that her parents experienced a generation earlier with those that Sister Maura faced in Central America.

Having recently completed, Kate Hennessy’s, “Dorothy Day: The World Will Saved By Beauty,” I was stuck that these two amazing women died within 3 days of each other – Dorothy Day (November 29, 1980) – Sister Maura Clarke (December 2, 1980). Earlier that year (March 24, 1980) Archbishop Oscar Romero was murdered.

I highly recommend Markey’s challenging and extraordinary book.

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Kate Hennessy's Magnificent Portrait

Revisado: 05-03-17

If you could sum up Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty in three words, what would they be?

Intimate, authentic, challenging

What did you like best about this story?

Kate Hennessy's book is not only a portrait of her grandmother, Dorothy Day, but also a moving account of the life of her mother, Tamar. The richness of their relationship, the calling of the work of the Catholic Worker and the joys, struggles and beauties make this a book to savor. If this is the first book that you are to read on Dorothy Day, I suggest that you first pick up one of Dorothy's books like On Pilgrimage, Loaves and Fishes or The Long Loneliness. Read one of these first and then immediately read Kate's book. Although the Catholic Worker started 85+ years ago, the writing by and about Dorothy Day are even more powerful today.

Which scene was your favorite?

The ending was stunningly beautiful. For Kate to return to multi-generational relationships between mothers and daughters was very rich. There were many scenes at the Catholic Worker either in NYC or at the farms that were challenging. I had lived in a Catholic Worker House for 3 years and it brought back many fond memories AND anxieties!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it is a book that needed to be listen to over a good length of time in order to reflect on her words and the life of Dorothy Day

Any additional comments?

It is too bad that Kate Hennessy was not asked to be the reader. I have listened to her present on her book tour and she would have been fabulous. There is something intimate and beautiful in this book that would have been enhanced by subtle inflections had Kate been the reader.

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Must Listen

Revisado: 01-10-17

One the 5 best books I've read or listen to in the past 5 years.

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To be listened to again and again and again.

Revisado: 06-25-16

To be listened to again and again and again.

My favorite book of the last 5 years is McCann's Let the Great World Spin. I love his work. Listen to McCann read Thirteen Ways of Looking is a pure treat!

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Best Audio Book!

Revisado: 02-13-11

Of the 80 audio books I have listened to, this was my favorite for content and narration. I just did not want it to end!

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Cry The Beloved Country

Revisado: 11-15-07

Important Read!!!!!

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