Name: the sunlight dialogues
Price: 72.15 NZD
Availability: InStock
Author: John Gardner
ISBN: 9780811216708

Type

Physical Book

Author

John Gardner

Introduction by

Charles Johnson

Publisher

New Directions Publishing Corporation

Language

English

Pages

690

Format

Paperback

Dimensions

20.1 x 13.5 x 4.1 cm

Weight

0.68 kg.

ISBN

0811216705

ISBN13

9780811216708

Synopsis "the sunlight dialogues"

In The Sunlight Dialogues, John Gardner's vision of America in the turbulent 1960s embraces an unconventional cast of conventional citizens in the small rural town of Batavia, New York. Sheriff Fred Clumly is trying desperately to unravel mysteries surrounding a disorderly, nameless drifter called "The Sunlight Man," who has been jailed for painting the word "LOVE" across two lanes of traffic, and who is later suspected of murder. The men battle over morality, freedom and their opposing notions of justice, leading each to find his own state of grace. Their conflict is mirrored in the community of middlebrow politicians and their church-going wives, Native Americans, working-class immigrants, farmers, soldiers, petty thieves, and even centenarian sisters too stubborn to die. Gardner's alchemy is existential: from the most raw, vulnerable, and conflicting characters in the American melting pot, he transmutes common denominators of human isolation and longing. With unnerving suspense, his acute ear for American speech, and permeated by his deep-rooted belief in morality, this expansive, sprawling, and ambitious novel is John Gardner's masterpiece: "A superb literary achievement," noted The Boston Globe.

John Gardner

(Author)

View Author's Page

John Champlin Gardner Jr. (Batavia, New York, July 21, 1933 – Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, September 14, 1982) was an American novelist, essayist, and literary critic. He studied at Washington University in St. Louis and earned his master's and doctorate degrees at the University of Iowa. His academic career included teaching at various institutions, such as San Francisco State University and Binghamton University.

Among his most notable works is "Grendel" (1971), a novel that reimagines the Beowulf myth from the monster's perspective. In the field of literary criticism, he published "On Becoming a Novelist" (1983), a guide for aspiring writers. His novel "October Light" (1976) earned him the National Book Critics Circle Award.

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