MICKELSSON'S GHOST

Mickelsson's Ghosts is John Gardner's exuberant celebration of one befuddled university professor's hard-won realization that he is a good person, worthy of love, and that good is ultimately stronger than evil --all this against a backdrop of philosophical discourse on Nietzsche, Martin Luther, Wittgenstein and Mormon Joseph Smith. Part picaresque tale, love story, murder mystery and ghost story, with loads of minor characters and subplots, this novel continues to fulfill Gardner's purpose of literature effecting a moral influence. Smooth-toned narrator Jack Hrkach is excellent for this challenging novel, dramatizing well when needed and dropping back a bit for expository passages. His timing is superb as is his ability to project the sly humor of the roguish Mickelsson. P.W. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB 96]