The Literary Essays of Thomas Merton

As wide a following as the late Thomas Merton had while he lived, ever since his tragic accidental death in Bangkok in 1968. there has been a steady upsurge of interest in both his life and writings.A priest and Trappist monk by vocation, his theological works have been instrumental in reforming Western monasticism and in carrying on the religious dialog botanist and West; and enormously productive poet, his poems display an astonishing technical versatility and deeply felt humanity. Merton's stature as a critic, however, was not fully appreciated until the publication n 1981 of the first collection of his distinct literary essays, now available as a paperbook.