Table Of Content

N O S N H O J S E L R A H C y b n o i t c u d o r t n I n a h t i W Tha SuMli^hi DialoÛQ^ also by John Gardner October Light Nickel Mountain (forthcoming) Tha Sunlight Dioloûoa JOHN CARDNBR Introduction byCh^rlCS JotlllSOn A New Directions Book Copyright © 1972 by John Gardner Copyright © 2006 by Charles Johnson All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in a newspaper, magazine, radio, or television review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher. New Directions Books are printed on acid-free paper. First published clothbound by Alfred A. Knopf in 1972. First published as New Directions Paperbook 1051 in 2006. Published simultaneously in Canada by Penguin Books Canada Limited. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gardner, John, 1933-1982. The sunlight dialogues / by John Gardner ; introduction by Charles Johnson. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-0-8112-1670-8 (acid-free paper) ISBN-10; 0-8112-1670-5 (acid-free paper) 1. Drifters—Fiction. 2. Sheriffs—Fiction. 3. Social change—Fiction. 4. Social classes—Fiction. 5. City and town life—Fiction. 6. Nineteen sixties—Fiction. 7. Batavia (N.Y.)—Fiction. I. Title. PS3557.A712S9 2006 813’.54—dc22 2006026361 New Directions Books are published for James Laughlin by New Directions Publishing Corporation, 80 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10011 To Edmund Epstein V. h<rx. r: ,- ' - — - <■ " ''7' ' • ' ■T - ‘ ' ^ > I ■'/* ■ ■(■w* •I'*..- i!../ . 'A I •. ' • • ,; 1 '? i<i7» .. :'-70*5 <ii' <: 1 -.I.'.- -3j«lxrv>f . ;* r f • CONTENTS Introduction ix xix List of Characters 1 Prologue I 5 The Watchdog II When the Exorcist Shall Go to the House of the Patient 59 ni 125 Lion Emerging from Cage IV 181 Mama V 210 Hunting Wild Asses VI 278 Esther VII 305 The Dialogue on Wood and Stone VIII 335 The Kleppmann File IX 362 “Like a robber, I shall proceed according to my will.” X 387 Poetry and Life XI 406 The Dialogue of Houses vii XII A Mother’s Love 436 XIII Nah ist—und schwer zufassen der Gott 458 XIV The Wilderness 494 XV The Dialogue of the Dead 517 XVI Love and Duty 548 XVII Benson versus ôy\& 556 XVIII The Dragon’s Dwelling-Place and the Court for Owls 577 XIX Workmen in a Quarry 590 XX Winged Figure Carrying Sacrificial Animal 625 XXI The Dialogue of Towers 639 XXII Luke 650 XXIII E sdentio 658 XXIV Law and Order 683 Vlll