"I hope they're interesting, I hope not more interesting than the fiction," says John Gardner in his Afterword to these twelve essays that probe deeply into each of his major novels, his epic poem, his children's stories, and his work as a librettist. Contents include: "Et in Arcadia Ego: Gardner's Early Novels" by David Cowart; "'Into the Farther Darkness' The Manichaean Pastoralism of John Gardner" by Samuel Coale;...