The Solitary Explorer responsibly and critically explores Thomas Merton's lifelong spiritual development as reflected in his religious and secular writings and delineates the meaning of his life and work for contemporary readers. It provides an interpretive chronology of Merton's writings and unravels the intertwining threads of self-realization and widening intellectual interests evidenced in the material he produced between his early autobiography and the controversial work of his later years. Elena Malits shows Merton as writer, as monk, as social critic, as seeker of wisdom in the East, as man of prayer, and as one continually on a journey into the unknown. Merton always held that the quest for God is a continuing one: The Solitary Explorer traces the progress of this quest in Merton's life and literary works to reveal a multifaceted spiritual guide who offers an approach to the divine at once reassuringly traditional and refreshingly contemporary. ""A sensitive and intelligent interpretation of Thomas Merton's ongoing conversion experience, and a welcome assessment of Merton's contribution to our time."" --Brother Patrick Hart, Abbey of Gethsemani, editor of Thomas Merton, Monk ""The Solitary Explorer is a very clear exposition of Merton's thought and is free of breathless adulation. This is not hagiography; it is a critical work in the best sense of the term. Includes as good a balanced judgment of Merton as I have seen."" --Lawrence Cunningham, Department of Religion, Florida State University ""Refreshing . . . Elena Malits is a fine scholar who passes on to the reader the excitement of discovery, as well as the fruits of intelligent scholarship. Hers is no 'journey without maps.' The Solitary Explorer is a well-planned expedition. Readers who share in the sense of discovery will find there is much to get excited about.'' --Michael Mott, authorized biographer of Thomas Merton Elena Marits, CSC, a widely acknowledged authority on Thomas Merton, chairs the Religious Studies Department of Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN.