Giles Goat-Boy
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Giles Goat-Boy (or The Revised New Syllabus of George Giles our Grand Tutor) is an allegorical satirical postmodern novel written by John Barth. It was first published in 1966, and deeply reflects the American campus culture of the time.
A paperback edition was issued in Garden City, N.Y. by Anchor Books in 1987 with ISBN 0385240864 .
Centers around the hero, George Giles, and his rise from farm animal to Grand Tutor of the New Tammany College. His quest is singularly to BE a hero, but the tale is a multifaceted one of his becoming. Numerous mythical and christian allegories make his fate seem almost predestined, regardless of his innocence. Parallels to everything from the cold war to 1960's academia to religion abound, this is a tale of the farce that we call human history. Structured like only Barth can, you either love it or hate it.