The King's Indian; Stories and Tales / Illustrated by Herbert L. Fink

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974. First Edition. Cloth. Fine/Fine. Herbert L. Fink. Small 4to (9 3/4" x 6 1/2"), charcoal top edge coloration for dust protection, Mylar-protected illustrated dust jacket (unclipped), by Earl Tidwell, ship gray-blueprints as endpapers, [x] + 323 deckled pages + [2] Note on the Type. John Gardner (1933 - 1982) was an American novelist, essayist, literary critic and university professor. He is best known for his 1971 novel Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf myth from the monster's point of view. A tour de force! Gardner's best-known novels include The Sunlight Dialogues, about a disaffected policeman asked to engage a madman fluent in classical mythology; Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf legend from the monster's point of view, with an existential subtext; and October Light, about an embittered brother and sister living and feuding with each other in rural Vermont (the novel includes an invented "trashy novel" the woman reads). This last book won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1976. Gardner was killed in a motorcycle accident on September 14, 1982.--Wikipedia abridged. EXCELLENT CONDITION! Small red remainder mark on lower edge of pages.