The Seven Storey Mountain is the 1948 autobiography of Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk and a noted author of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Merton finished the book in 1946 at the age of 31, five years after entering Gethsemani Abbey near Bardstown, Kentucky. The title refers to the mountain of Purgatory in Dante's The Divine Comedy.
The Seven Storey Mountain was published in 1948 and was met with surprising levels of public attention. The first printing was planned for 7,500 copies, but pre-publication sales exceeded 20,000. By May 1949, 100,000 copies were in print and, according to TIME, it was among the best-selling non-fiction books in the country for the year 1949. The original hardcover edition eventually sold over 600,000 copies, and paperback sales exceed three million by 1984. The book has remained continuously in print, and has been translated into more than fifteen languages. The 50th-anniversary edition published in 1998 by Harvest Books, included an introduction by Merton's editor, Robert Giroux, and a note by biographer and Thomas Merton Society founder, Fr. William Shannon.
Apart from being on the National Review's list of the 100 best non-fiction books of the century, it was also mentioned in 100 Christian Books That Changed the Century (2000) by William J. Petersen.
Read more about The Seven Storey Mountain: Summary, Comparison With St. Augustine, Social Reaction, Later Life and Criticism, Best Books Lists, See Also, Publication Data
Famous quotes containing the words storey and/or mountain:
“She does all right. She does all right. She just put up the shutters and stopped living.”
—David Storey (b. 1933)
“The mountain may be approached more easily and directly on horseback and on foot from the northeast side, by the Aroostook road, and the Wassataquoik River; but in that case you see much less of the wilderness, none of the glorious river and lake scenery, and have no experience of the batteau and the boatman’s life.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)