Mickelsson's Ghosts (1982) ... John Gardner
Gardner's last book published when he was alive. I and my brothers had been reading his work pretty intensely since we found Grendel in the high school library, and seeking out his other books wherever we could find them. I had been thrilled that he was coming to South West Texas State University, only to learn of his death in a motorcycle accident. In the wake of that tragedy, I was unhappy to find Mickelsson's Ghosts so depressing. It was panned by many critics of the time (some of whom had an axe to grind with his critical theories and felt no compunction in picking his corpse). With the distance of years, others have come to consider it one of his finest works. Perhaps I should give it another chance, too.
I used to have a wonky hardback copy of The Sunlight Dialogues as well. I retain the paperback.
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