What is John Gardner (American writer)?
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] --> | name = John Gardner | image = John Gardner author 1979.jpg | imagesize = | alt = | caption = Gardner in 1977 | pseudonym = | birth_name = John Champlin Gardner Jr. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|7|21}} | birth_place = [[Batavia, New York]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|9|14|1933|7|21}} | death_place = [[Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania]] | occupation = {{flatlist| * Novelist * essayist * literary critic * professor }} | nationality = | ethnicity = | religion = | citizenship = United States | education = | alma_mater = [[Washington University in St. Louis]],<br /> [[University of Iowa]] | notableworks = ''[[The Sunlight Dialogues]]'', ''[[On Moral Fiction]]'', ''[[Grendel (novel)|Grendel]]'' | spouses = Joan Louise Patterson (1953–1980),<br /> [[Liz Rosenberg]] (1980–1982) | partner = Susan Thornton | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature = | website = | portaldisp = }} '''John Champlin Gardner Jr.''' (July 21, 1933 – September 14, 1982) was an [[Americans|American]] novelist, essayist, literary critic and university professor. He was known for his novel ''[[Grendel (novel)|Grendel]]'', a retelling of the [[Beowulf]] myth from the monster's point of view. Gardner was killed in a motorcycle accident in [[Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania]], aged 49. ==Works== ===Fiction=== * ''The Resurrection'', 1966. * ''The Wreckage of Agathon'', 1970. * ''[[Grendel (novel)|Grendel]]'', 1971. * ''The Sunlight Dialogues'', 1972. * ''Jason and Medeia'', 1973. * ''Nickel Mountain: A Pastoral Novel'', 1973. * ''The King's Indian'', 1974. * ''October Light'', 1976. * ''In the Suicide Mountains'', 1977. * ''Freddy's Book'', 1980. * ''The Art of Living and Other Stories'', 1981. * ''Mickelsson's Ghosts'', 1982. * ''Stillness and Shadows'', 1986. ===Biography=== * ''The Life and Times of Ch