The Monster at the End of This Book Author: Visit Amazon's Jon Stone Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0307010856 | Format: EPUB
The Monster at the End of This Book Description
From the Inside Flap
Many, many adults name this book as their favorite Little Golden Book. Generations of kids have interacted with lovable, furry old Grover as he begs the reader not to turn the page . . . for a monster is at the end of the book!
?Oh, I am so embarrassed,? he says on the last page, for of course the monster is Grover himself!
About the Author
Jon Stone was the first head writer for
Sesame Street and was one of the show’s principal directors and producers for over 24 years.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
- Age Range: 3 - 7 years
- Grade Level: Preschool - 2
- Lexile Measure: 450L (What's this?)
- Series: Little Golden Book
- Hardcover: 24 pages
- Publisher: Golden Books; 2nd edition (May 13, 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307010856
- ISBN-13: 978-0307010858
- Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.7 x 0.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
_The Monster At The End Of This Book_ (henceforth "TMATEOTB") is a fascinating treatise on several of the philosophical problems lurking at the core of modern and classical thought. The premise -- that, with the turn of each page, the reader brings self-described "lovable, furry Grover" closer to danger at the hands of the title monster -- allows one to question the very nature of free will and destiny. Is Grover doomed to encounter the monster? The conceit that it is the act of turning pages -- the literal act of reading itself -- that causes the ending to come about inevitably leads to the question: Would the book end differently if one _didn't_ finish reading it? On another level, TMATEOTB addresses one of the paradoxes of contemporary physics: The equality of space and time. The "end of the book" is an event in the future, but the monster is not spoken of as "arriving", but as _already being there_. Thus, turning pages moves the reader and Grover not only forward in time, as in most traditional literature, but also forward in space, leading to the perilous End of the Book. Lastly, TMATEOTB is about how we are ultimately at the whim of the cosmic forces that shape our lives. The hapless protagonist tries again and again to stop the reader from turning pages by erecting brick walls and nailing one page to the other. His efforts are futile, but he remains unaware of his essential helplessness in the face of a Reader. Perhaps, the book says, we are ultimately doomed to fail, trapped within the pages of cosmic irony, but unable to prevent or even perceive the inevitability of our encounter with the monster.
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