Giles Goat Boy Or, the Revised New Syllabus

London, UK: Granada: Panther Books. Very Good+. 1981. First Edition Thus. Paperback. Very Good+ to Near Fine in Wraps: shows several rather faint creases near the upper rear corner and an even fainter crease near the lower front corner; the expected light tanning to the text pages due to aging; a tiny, very faint stain at the outside edge of the front panel; the binding is somewhat concave, though it doesn't appear that the book has been read; else flawless; the binding is secure; the text is clean. Free of creases to the panels. Free of creases to the backstrip. Free of underlining, hi-lighting, notations, or marginalia. Free of creased or dog-eared pages in the text. Free of any ownership names, dates, addresses, notations, inscriptions, stamps, plates, or labels. A handsome copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing minor, unobtrusive imperfections only. Bright and Clean. Close to 'As New'. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 12mo. (7 x 4.35 X 2 inches) . Language: English. Weight: 15.6 ounces. First Edition Thus (1981) , not directly stated, but no subsequent Granada printings indicated. The hardcover edition was published in 1966. Mass Market Paperback. John Barth (born in 1930) is an American writer who is best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include The Sot-Weed Factor, a whimsical retelling of Maryland's colonial history, Giles Goat-Boy, a satirical fantasy in which a university is a microcosm of the Cold War world, and Lost in the Funhouse, a self-referential and experimental collection of short stories. He was co-recipient of the National Book Award in 1973 for his episodic novel Chimera. Giles Goat-Boy is a lengthy satirical fantasy based on the conceit of a university as the world of the Cold War, divided into East Campus and West Campus. A boy raised as a goat, Giles discovers his humanity and sets out on a quest to become a "Grand Tutor", a messiah-like spiritual leader within the university. The story is presented as a computer tape given to Barth, who in the text itself denies that it is his work. In the course of the novel Giles carries out all the tasks attributed to mythical heroes in Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. It was a surprise best-seller and raised Barth's profile, calling more attention to his earlier work. ; 12mo 7" - 7½" tall; 813 pages .