Living with Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton

Jim Forest met Thomas Merton in 1961 and maintained an active correspondence and friendship with the monk, poet, spiritual writer and social critic until Merton's accidental death by electrocution in Bangkok while attending a conference on Asian Christian monasticism on December 10, 1968. In conjunction with Merton's 40th anniversary of death, Orbis Books reissued Forest's biography nineteen years after its original appearance. It features forty pages of additional text, along with a montage of rare photos and sidebar quotations that grace the lay-out and design of this handsome, oversized trade paperback. This work demonstrates first-rate scholarship, written in a crisp, engaging style. It presents a real "insider's view" of Merton and adds many new insights and dimensions to the Merton legacy. For example, Forest's explorations of Merton's relationships with his second abbot, Dom James Fox; the account of the monk's encounters with the psychiatrist and convert to Catholicism, Dr. Gregory Zilboorg; the treatment of a rumored pregnancy that ended his undergraduate academic career at Cambridge University and soured the young orphan's relationship with his guardians, Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Izod Bennett; and, his struggles with a romantic encounter with a young student nurse, "Margie S.," in the final years of his life, while living in a hermitage on the grounds of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, all conspire to add to the appeal and originality of this work. Even seasoned Merton aficianados stand to learn much from this solid treatment. Forest thoroughly revised and added to his original text and included an afterword to assess Merton's legacy forty years after his death and seventy years after his profession of faith as a Catholic (he entered the monastery three years later, and took the habit on December 10, 1941, a date that practically bi-sected his lifespan). As one who has written and taught about Merton widely, in my opinion this book is the most complete, balanced, readable, wide-ranging and up-to-date biography of Thomas Merton on the market. Treat yourself to it or get a copy for a fellow Merton devotee or interested reader. If you enjoy it half as much as I did, you will be thrilled with the end result.

This is one of my favorite "Merton" books. Other than Merton's own work, this is a real taste of Merton. I loved it! Jim Forest knew Tom Merton and gives a real insight into his life and thought.

As a Catholic monk living in the United States during the turbulent second world war and the sixties, Tomas Merton's strong faith in his God shines brightly in his writing. While his autobiography, " The Seven Storey Mountain " might be the correct entry point into his more than 50 books, this book summarizes well Merton's life and times, and provides more pictures of of the places and friends that effected Merton than most of his no illustrations books.