The Enamoured Knight

by Douglas Glover

This book is filled with passion and love for the art of writing and is a celebration of reading. Through the prism of the great Russian Formalist Viktor Shklovsky, Douglas Glover provides a scrupulous reading of Cervantes's Don Quixote, opening this 400-year-old Spanish masterpiece to a new generation of readers, showing how Cervantes made his novel, and, finally, revealing how we as readers participate in his magic creation. Glover's brilliant accomplishment resides in his ability to seduce the reader with his own stunning prose and penetrating insight, while also creating the means for anyone to see into Cervantes's genius.

191 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2004

About the author

Douglas Glover worked in the newsrooms of daily papers in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec, before publishing Precious in 1984. His byline later appeared in the book pages of The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and The Boston Globe.

He is the author of two works of literary criticism, including The Enamoured Knight, a recent book on Don Quixote, and nine books of fiction, including 16 Categories of Desire, A Guide to Animal Behaviour, The Life and Times of Captain N., and the best-selling historical novel Elle, winner of the 2003 Governor General's Award for Fiction.

Elle was also a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize and was on the short list of finalists for the 2005 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The book is now available in a new, reader's guide edition. Born and raised in southwestern Ontario, Douglas Glover now lives near Saratoga Springs, New York.

Reviews

[Mary Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is mostly about Don Quixote and how it appears to be both a novel and not a novel, how it creates humour, and how there have been many views about Don Quixote as a character -- is he heroic or insane?
Enamoured Knight is also about what makes a novel a novel and the various types of novels there are. It reminds me of an interesting post doc university lecture with interesting points and humourous asides.
I recommend this book for someone wanting to read Don Quixote but has felt that reading a "Man of La Mancha" Don Quixote might be boring. Glover makes it seem anything but boring, and certainly encourages the reader to read Don Quixote. Glover also points out what makes a novel successful, which is interesting for readers and would-be novel writers.

[Andy Lamey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and informative, if at times meandering, critical discussion of Don Quixote. As Glover's final sentence puts it, the novel reveals that "in our fictional universe, books teach us to be real."