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John Gardner

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John Gardner


Born
in Batavia, New York, The United States
July 21, 1933

Died
September 14, 1982

Website

Genre

Influences
Chaucer


John Champlin Gardner was a well-known and controversial American novelist and university professor, best known for his novel Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf myth.

Gardner was born in Batavia, New York. His father was a lay preacher and dairy farmer, and his mother taught English at a local school. Both parents were fond of Shakespeare and often recited literature together. As a child, Gardner attended public school and worked on his father's farm, where, in April of 1945, his younger brother Gilbert was killed in an accident with a cultipacker. Gardner, who was driving the tractor during the fatal accident, carried guilt for his brother's death throughout his life, suffering nightmares and flashbacks. The incident informed much of Gardn
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Average rating: 3.79 · 62,664 ratings · 4,969 reviews · 377 distinct worksSimilar authors
Grendel

3.69 avg rating — 39,954 ratings — published 1971 — 82 editions
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The Art of Fiction: Notes o...

3.99 avg rating — 6,112 ratings — published 1984 — 29 editions
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On Becoming a Novelist

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4.11 avg rating — 3,018 ratings — published 1983 — 36 editions
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October Light

3.87 avg rating — 1,140 ratings — published 1976 — 36 editions
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Nickel Mountain

3.72 avg rating — 1,043 ratings — published 1973 — 36 editions
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The Sunlight Dialogues (New...

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3.92 avg rating — 806 ratings — published 1972 — 26 editions
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On Moral Fiction

3.84 avg rating — 808 ratings — published 1978 — 21 editions
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Mickelsson's Ghosts

4.01 avg rating — 553 ratings — published 1982 — 22 editions
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Freddy's Book

3.74 avg rating — 530 ratings — published 1973 — 30 editions
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In the Suicide Mountains

3.82 avg rating — 357 ratings — published 1977 — 14 editions
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More books by John Gardner…

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Quotes by John Gardner  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Self pity is easily the most destructive of the non-pharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure and separates the victim from reality.”
John Gardner

“When I was a child I truly loved:
Unthinking love as calm and deep
As the North Sea. But I have lived,
And now I do not sleep.”
John Gardner, Grendel

“i understand that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. i understood that, finally and absolutely, i alone exist. all the rest, i saw, is merely what pushes me, or what i push against, blindly - as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back. i create the whole universe, blink by blink.”
John Champlin Gardner Jr., Grendel

Polls

Fantasy was the winning genre for June. Please place your vote for the book you'd most like to read. Last day to vote will be Sunday, May 18.

Daughter of the Forest Daughter of the Forest (The Sevenwaters Trilogy, #1) by Juliet Marillier Juliet Marillier
 
  3 votes, 37.5%

Grendel Grendel by John Gardner John Gardner
 
  2 votes, 25.0%

A Song for Arbonne A Song For Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay Guy Gavriel Kay
 
  2 votes, 25.0%

 
  1 vote, 12.5%

The Once and Future King The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King, #1-4) by T.H. White T.H. White
 
  0 votes, 0.0%

The Winter King The Winter King (The Warlord Chronicles, #1) by Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell
 
  0 votes, 0.0%

Pawn of Prophecy Pawn of Prophecy (The Belgariad, #1) by David Eddings David Eddings
 
  0 votes, 0.0%

Ombria in Shadow Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip Patricia A. McKillip
 
  0 votes, 0.0%

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