Mantissa (Back Bay Books) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "IT was conscious of a luminous and infinite haze, as if it were floating, godlike, alpha and omega, over a sea of vapor and looking..." (more)
Key Phrases: old rose carpet, staff sister, Nurse Cory, Miles Green, West Indian (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Fowles 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.

Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books (August 4, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316290270
• ISBN-13: 978-0316290272
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #272,124 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John Fowles KICKED by Muse!, June 16, 2000

By	Carra R Lane (Bishop Hill, IL United States) - See all my reviews

John Fowles minus his usual novelistic costuming relaxes, writes brilliantly, reveals craft secrets, pokes gentle, if firm, fun at both himself & the business of literature, adores/insults his muse & is properly inspired/kicked for his trouble. MANTISSA is sweetly funny, roughly true, a deft tale of the endless left/right (or male/female or rational/intuitive) mind combat which is the natural environment of creation, the brainswamp from which much of our best writing emerges. Complete with a terribly nice pun on the names of a writer & a shrink, adequate eros (every bit of it strictly imaginary), & some charming intermusine backbiting, in the end. Astounding! Hilarious! The Nubile Prize for Metafiction!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing, So To Speak, June 8, 2001

By	Christopher Dudley (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mantissa is a short, light romp through the writer's mind. There's no heavy subtext to mull over. There's no ponderous character development to follow. There's just Miles Green in his hospital room, which becomes other things, and Erato, the woman who is his muse. A few other characters lurk in orbit around the room, but the whole story takes place literally in the brain of Miles.

Most of the book is dialogue between Miles and Erato as he alternately romances and berates his muse, the essence of his creativity, and is repaid in kind. It's an animated metaphor for the process of writing, and many times the characters seem to know they are merely characters in a book. It begins in a hospital where Miles has just recovered, having lost his memory through some accident, but that scenario quickly ends as Erato takes on numerous personalities and attitudes in her interaction with Miles.

This is probably best for those familiar with John Fowles's other works. Mantissa is clever, it's funny, it's self-aware, and it's not going to shake the literary world. It's just a quick afternoon read that gives you a peek into the mind of a writer.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful mental jousting with a beautiful muse., March 21, 1998

By	Amy Sterling Casil (Redlands, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun from beginning to end, John Fowles explores the never-smooth relationship between the author and his muse. Miles Green verbally and physically jousts for 200+ pages with his muse, Erato, as well as Dr. A. Delfie and the voluptuous Nurse Cory. If this doesn't excite you, I don't know what will. Extra fillips of pleasure for those who detest various sorts of modern criticism. It's a wonder John Fowles' Twaynes English Author Series Volume hasn't been recalled. He does not spare the rod. A warm, funny, smart book.