JASON AND MEDEIA
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1973. Reproductions of classical engravings. First Edition. Cloth. Small 4to (9 1/2" x 6 1/2"), beige cloth with light yellow labels on spine & front cover (which also has a small embossed rectangular Greek frieze, Mylar-protected dust jacket with red lettering (unclipped) reproducing Maxfield Parrish illustration of a w blue centaur with two Greek boys against a yellow background, B&W frontispiece & 24 full page in-text B&W antique illustrations for each of 24 chapters, publisher's light green protective dust stain on top edges of pages, [xii] + 354 deckled pages. Weight: 2+ lbs. Fine / Fine. Item #2178
ISBN: 0394483170
John Gardner (1933 – 1982) was an American novelist, essayist, literary critic and university professor. He is best known for his 1971 novel Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf myth from the monster's point of view. A tour de force!
Gardner's best-known novels include The Sunlight Dialogues, about a disaffected policeman asked to engage a madman fluent in classical mythology; Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf legend from the monster's point of view, with an existential subtext; and October Light, about an embittered brother and sister living and feuding with each other in rural Vermont (the novel includes an invented "trashy novel" the woman reads). This last book won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1976.
Jason & Medeia is "an epic of busybody gods, befuddled brave heroes, exciting adventures, amazing landscapes, incredible sights (the spider men, Jason's talking ship, fire-breathing bulls, Medeia's crazy-eyed, sinister ravens.)
Mr. Gardner gives us a long and wonderful tale, made partly of familiar tales interwoven and returned to their primitive strangeness. It begins at the beginning of things, when Zeus fought the dragons. It ends in the final days, with New York on fire. Through it all, Jason and Medeia fight, love, murder, and push to their destiny--and all mankind's."--jacket.
Gardner was killed in a motorcycle accident on September 14, 1982.--Wikipedia abridged.
Price: $45.00