Reviews for Easy Essays

The average rating for Easy Essays based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-04-04 00:00:00 Michelle Martin In the pages of the Catholic Worker, Peter Maurin published hundreds of these deceptively simple essays in verse, highly repetitious and syllogistic so as to be digestible by the common man. The principle themes include: (1) usury is bad, probably the most pernicious development in Western history; (2) there is no fundamental distinction between bourgeois capitalism and statist Communism: they're both materialist, secularist, and totalitarian in nature; (3) that lay American Catholics have abandoned our duty of hospitality, have embraced a materialist spirit of political and economic acquisitiveness in spite of the Church's teaching, and are therefore guiltier than either Protestants or Marxists; (4) proper thought must not be academic and specialized, but lead to proper, dynamic action; and (5) that we must unselfishly and at personal sacrifice do everything in our power to help the poor, both individually and systemically. It's powerful, inspirational stuff, and reading the essays aloud I was humbled by my childish selfishness and class-consciousness and a bunch of other -nesses. It's no wonder at all Dorothy Day named Peter among her saints, and I've been pushing him on everyone I know, Catholic and non-Catholic.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-11-29 00:00:00 Chuck Bond Peter Maurin's role in instigating the Catholic Worker movement makes his Easy Essays a must read for those interested in Christian Anarchist thought and nonviolent activism. Maurin meant these essays to be spoken aloud, not read privately. Actually, I kept hearing Bob Dylan's voice in my head while reading. Dorothy Day's a saint in my book. So, any resource that helps me better understand her Catholic Worker movement belongs on my reading list. Still, I would read Dorothy first, and Peter second.