Online Essays & Commentary about Gardner's Life & Work
This page is a collection of items from sites other than those I've included in the "Gardner Web Ring."
By John Gardner
"Big Deals" Review of William Gaddis's novel JR. The full text of this piece is only available to subscribers of the Review 's electronic edition.
About John Gardner
"Audio Interview with John C. Gardner." Don Swaim and Gil Gross interview John Gardner in 1981 on Swaim's long-running CBS Radio show, Book Beat.
"War of Words. " Relive the "Baltimore's Most Notorious Literary Tussle"--between Gardner and John Barth in this Baltimore City Paper article by John Barry.
"John Gardner Biography: 'Literary Outlaw.'" NPR Weekend Edition report by Tom Vitale on the new biography by Barry Silesky, John Gardner: Literary Outlaw.
"The Great NPR Program You Never Heard." NPR "Reporter's Notebook" article by Bob Malesky about Gardner's radio ambitions.
"Gilgamesh-by Gardner". Article on Gardner's last major translation by Gardner's friend and colleague, John Maier, who also worked on that project.
"John Gardner as Mentor". Autobiographical article by Charles Johnson (requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader).
"The Twelve Chapters of Grendel". Exporation of the philosophical systems informing each chapter of the novel, by Craig J. Stromme.
"Grendel and Beowulf Were Two Pretty Boys" by F. W. Bateson. Review of both Beowulf and Grendel. The full text of this piece is only available to subscribers of the Review 's electronic edition.
"What's Eating William Gass?" by Gary Percesepe (Mississippi Review, July 1995): This review of William Gass's novel The Tunnel mentions John Gardner's dissatisfaction with Gass's literary sensibilities.
"Saints, sinners, and the Dickensian novel: the ethics of storytelling in John Irving's 'The Cider House Rules'" by Todd F. Davis. Contains a few thoughts by Irving on Gardner in comparison to William Gass.
"Academic Vaudeville". Review by Thomas R. Edwards of The King's Indian: Stories and Tales. The full text of this piece is only available to subscribers of the New York Review 's electronic edition.
"Epic Overreach". Review by D. S. Carne-Ross of Jason & Medeia. The full text of this piece is only available to subscribers of the New York Review 's electronic edition.
"Flirting with Disintegration". Review by Michael Wood of Nickel Mountain. The full text of this piece is only available to subscribers of the New York Review 's electronic edition.
"New Fall Fiction", Review by Michael Wood of The Sunlight Dialogues. The full text of this piece is only available to subscribers of the New York Review 's electronic edition.
"The Not-So-Light Fantastic". Review by Michael Wood of October Light. The full text of this piece is only available to subscribers of the New York Review 's electronic edition.
"The Temptations of Chaucer". Review by of The Life and Times of Chaucer and The Poetry of Chaucer. The full text of this piece is only available to subscribers of the New York Review 's electronic edition.
"Good Grief!" Review by Robert Towers of On Moral Fiction. The full text of this piece is only available to subscribers of the New York Review's electronic edition.
"Stranger than Non-Fiction". Review by Roger Sale of Freddy's Book. The full text of this piece is only available to subscribers of the New York Review's electronic edition.
"So Big". Review by Robert Towers of Mickelsson's Ghosts. The full text of this piece is only available to subscribers of the New York Review's electronic edition.
Gardner Web Ring
The John C. Gardner Appreciation Page
An Index to John Gardner's Grendel
Yahoo! Clubs: johngardner · John Gardner - The Author of Grendel, Mickelsson's Ghosts, etc.