Grendel

• Genre: Fiction; heroic, epic adventure
• Originally Published: 1971
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 860L; college/adult
• Structure/Length: 12 chapters; approx. 192 pages; approx. 5 hours, 30 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: In this retelling of the epic poem Beowulf, the monster Grendel tells the story of his bloody conflict with the nearby community of Danes. Intelligent and sensitive, Grendel muses about the meaning of life while also carrying out gruesome attacks on the humans, until one day a warrior arrives from across the sea and Grendel’s destiny becomes clear.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Violence; misogyny; criticism of religion/Christianity

John Gardner, Author

• Bio: 1933-1982; attended Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Iowa; taught at Oberlin College and the University of Rochester, among other schools; wrote poetry, fiction, literary criticism, and nonfiction; believed that all fictional plots fall into one of two categories—a journey or the arrival of a stranger; won the National Book Critics Circle Award for his novel October Light (1976); his best-known novel was adapted as an animated film, Grendel Grendel Grendel (1981); died in a motorcycle accident near his home in Pennsylvania
• Other Works: The Wreckage of Agathon (1970); The Sunlight Dialogues (1972); On Moral Fiction (1978); Mickelsson’s Ghosts (1982); The Art of Fiction (1984; published posthumously)
• Awards: Nominated for Mythopoeic Award (1972)