Set in the midst of the tumultuous events that led to the assassination of Martin Luther King, SPIRITUAL EXERCISES is a novel which seeks neither to glorify the 60s, nor to satirize its superficial fads, but rather to see it for what it was -- the time when America changed. The time when we lost both our innocence and our ignorance. SPIRITUAL EXERCISES is about family ties that are strained to the breaking point. It's also about a motley group of young nomads, who set out to change the world. This unlikely band of idealists is led by Carl Moore, a shy, introspective son of a Methodist minister. Carl grew up in Birmingham, Alabama -- a city synonymous the world over with bigotry and hatred -- with all the traditional values of the South such as unquestioned patriotism and racism. Carl sets out to challenge those values, not so much from genuine conviction, as from a personal rebellion against a claustrophobic world that has gone terribly wrong. Carl's "spiritual exercises" are a series of confrontations, in which he challenges his world and its values.