"Soul Searching: the Journey of Thomas Merton" examines the life of a modern monk, a life filled with conflicts, controversies and love. Merton grew up embracing bohemian, intellectual pursuits which led him to communism which he put aside for Catholicism which led him to a strictly cloistered life in a rural Kentucky monastery. The writings that flowed from his cell over the next 27 years examined spirituality (of the East and West), the Cold War, the civil rights movement and the plight of the individual in the post-modern world.