This extraordinary book, written during the four months that Daniel
Berrigan was resisting arrest and living underground, is an unexpected
gift. Rather than being merely an account of a fugitive's life, this is
a spiritual work of the highest order, the work of an unusual man
brooding over injustice, war, and love and setting forth his vision of
what a man can become. His starting point is St. John of the Cross, from
whom the author draws the inspiration that informs his unorthodox
""commentary"" on The Dark Night of the Soul. Here, John is the guru,
the master to whom the disciple comes for enlightenment, the one whose
vision inspires the disciple as he searches for his own vision. As the
""commentary"" moves on, it becomes the instrument by which Father
Berrigan extends his own moral commitment to explore and reaffirm his
spiritual philosophy, his concern for the world, his intense desire to
awaken and move society in a nonviolent way. The result is a magnificent
outpouring of prose and poetry--intense, personal, witty; the exposition
of the heart of a man. ""How are we to live our lives today? We are in
the dark preliminary stages of a new humanity, together. Imagine! my
brother in prison, myself on the run, our friends here and there (in
prison, on the run), and in every city between. Thus, all of us are
enabled, in an utterly new way, to probe and ponder new forms of
community, the questions about the future, the usefulness and joy and
hope that may arise from this."" --from the first chapter ""Daniel
Berrigan is a poet and prophet for these times."" --Jim Wallis, editor
of Sojourners magazine ""Daniel Berrigan is the sort of priest who
causes the lights of the Vatican to burn through the night."" --Newsweek
Daniel Berrigan is an internationally known voice for peace and
disarmament. A Jesuit priest, award-winning poet, and the author of over
fifty books, he has spoken for peace, justice, and nuclear disarmament
for nearly fifty years. He spent several years in prison for his part in
the 1968 Catonsville Nine antiwar action and later acted with the
Plowshares Eight. Nominated many times for the Nobel Peace Prize, he
lives and works in New York City.
