I hope they re interesting, I hope not more interesting than the fiction, says John Gardner in his Afterword to these twelve essays that probe deeply into each of his major novels, his epic poem, his children s stories, and his work as a librettist.Contents include: "Et in Arcadia Ego: "Gardner s Early Novels by David Cowart; Into the Farther Darkness: The Manichaean Pastoralism of John Gardner by Samuel Coale; A Babylonian in Batavia: Mesopotamian Literature and Lore in "The Sunlight Dialogues" " "by Greg Morris; and "Grendel "and Blake: The Contraries of Existence by Helen B. Ellis and Warren U. Ober."" John Gardner s "Grendel" " "by Jerome Klinkowitz; Survival and Redemptive Vision in "Jason and Medeia" " "by John Trimbur; Sailing Through "The King s Indian "with John Gardner and His Friends by Donald J. Greiner; Modern Moralities for Children: John Gardner s Children s Books by Geraldine DeLuca and Roni Natov. John Gardner, Librettist: A Composer s Notes by Joseph Baber; The Real Monster in "Freddy s Book" " "by Walter Cummins; Magical Prisons: Embedded Structures in the Work of John Gardner by Kathryn VanSpanckeren; and New Fiction, Popular Fiction, and John Gardner s Middle/Moral Way by Robert A. Morace."
- ISBN10 0809310317
- ISBN13 9780809310319
- Publish Date 1 June 1982
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 3 October 2008
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Southern Illinois University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 171
- Language English