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Mickelsson's Ghosts
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780394504681
Edition: 1st ed
ISBN: 0394504682
Label: Alfred A. Knopf
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 590
Publication Date: May 12, 1982
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Studio: Alfred A. Knopf
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Mickelsson's Ghosts: John Gardner's last novel
I've read most of John Gardner's novels, and Mickelsson's Ghosts is certainly my favorite, yet as with all other Gardner novels it's fraught with problems, particularly when it comes to Gardner's arrogance. For this was a man who was the self-proclaimed "greatest living author," who aimed to be remembered through the ages alongside literary giants like Proust and Chaucer, who razed and scolded his fellow authors without mercy. But now here we are twenty-six years after his unexpected death; John ... Read More
Rating: - The critics, the readers and the ugly
So many readers minds are in concert regarding the reviews for this book and yet I found an original New York Times review from 1982 that was most unfavorable. It's instructive to keep in mind that there was a notable amount of unfair criticism targeted toward Mr. Gardner at the time this book came out, mainly because of `On Moral Fiction'. Bad mistake for Mr. Gardner. I can only imagine that he was looking forward to a spirited fight for the cause of higher art. Instead he found himself surrounded ... Read More
Rating: - A big warm-hearted book
I have read most of Gardner's novels and was briefly a student of his in the 1970s. He was a larger than life character, and I have enjoyed many, though not all, of the Gardner novels I have read. Without question, this is my favorite. I put it off for many years but was inspired to pick it up after reading the Silesky biography. This book is a gem. The main character is a troubled philosophy professor who is sometimes difficult to like, but the book itself is one to love. It is philosophical work, but ... Read More
Rating: - Something special
You know you're reading a good book when you find yourself purposefully delaying the conclusion to savour the experience longer. That's the kind of book this is: immensely detailed, intimate, fascinating. John Gardner was truly a master craftsman, and this is a masterpiece. The characters, minor and major, are fascinating, from the kooky old man next door who claims to be a witch, to Mickelsson himself, a philosopher with a brilliant mind, gradually coming undone as life delivers blow after blow against ... Read More
Rating: - A deeply thoughtful work
I can think of no book read over my 40 years of adult reading as deeply moving and thought-provoking as this book. The way I gauge the effect a book is having on me is the speed at which I am reading it - the slower I read it the more I am being affected, and the duration and frequency of times the book is remembered. I have never read a book as slowly as this one, and many years after reading the book I still think of it. I will admit that Mickelsson and his philosophic musings may not be for everyone. ... Read More
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