Mickelsson's Ghosts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mickelsson's Ghosts is John Gardner's final novel of 1982. It follows Peter Mickelsson, former football player and current Professor of Philosophy at Binghamton University. Mickelsson is driven, opinionated, probably a drunk, definitely bankrupt, and going completely mad. During his descent to madness he somehow scrounges enough money together to buy a dilapidated farmhouse in northern Pennsylvania. During his more and more frequent absences from reality, the self-destructive Mickelsson has several highly regrettable affairs and becomes involved with a sectarian religious group which may or may not be entirely imagined.