The Hermitage Journals: A Diary Kept While Working on the Biography of Thomas Merton

by John Howard Griffin

Griffin recounts his experiences following Thomas Merton's daily routine at the Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky in preparation for a biography of the influential Trappist monk.

Genres: Biography

231 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

John Howard Griffin was a white American journalist who is best known for his account, Black Like Me, in which he details the experience of darkening his skin and traveling as a black man through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia in 1959. (The racism that he encountered was so disturbing that he cut short the time that he had allotted for this very unique experiment, clearly demonstrating that no one would tolerate being treated as many blacks are, if he or she could possibly avoid it.)