In Mantissa (1982), a novelist awakes in the hospital with amnesia — and comes to believe that a beautiful female doctor is, in fact, his muse.
From Library JournalFowles launched his career with The Collector, which was welcomed with great critical enthusiasm, including that of LJ's reviewer, who found it “a distinguished first novel” (LJ 8/63). Mantissa, on the other hand, was a departure from the author's more popular material and received only a marginal response (LJ 9/1/82).
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review“The novel seeks to explore the nature of reality and creativity, the alienations of art, the evolution of literature to its present self-conscious phase, the relationship between the sexes, and much more” — Martin Amis Observer “The only writer in English who has the power, range, knowledge, and wisdom of Tolstoy or James” — John Gardner “John Fowles is an artist of great imaginative power” Sunday Times
