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Grendel by John Gardner

Grendel

John Gardner

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · Paperback · May 14, 1989

This classic and much lauded retelling of Beowulf follows the monster Grendel as he learns about humans and fights the war at the center of the Anglo Saxon classic epic.

The ClassicsLiterary FictionFairy Tales & MythsFantasy
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MythologySchoolLiteratureRetellings
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Who it’s for
Readers interested in a Beowulf retelling from Grendel’s point of view
Themes
Understanding humans, War and conflict
Genres
Literary Fiction, Fairy Tales & Myths, The Classics

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About this book

This classic and much lauded retelling of Beowulf follows the monster Grendel as he learns about humans and fights the war at the center of the Anglo Saxon classic epic. "An extraordinary achievement."—New York Times The first and most terrifying monster in English literature, from the great early epic Beowulf, tells his own side of the story in this frequently banned book. This is the novel William Gass called "one of the finest of our contemporary fictions."

Who it’s for

  • Readers interested in a Beowulf retelling from Grendel’s point of view
  • Readers drawn to stories about a monster learning about humans

Where it sits

The Classics55%
Fairy Tales & Myths53%
Literary Fiction44%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • The Classics
  • Fairy Tales & Myths
  • Literary Fiction
Authors
John Gardner
Publisher
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published
May 14, 1989
Format
Paperback
Theme
Understanding humans · War and conflict
Reading lane
The Classics