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From ancient art to contemporary popular music, Regier ranges widely in exploring the meaning of the enigmatic image of the sphinx. Although occasionally too floridly written, this is nonetheless a compelling book about an engaging subject. Beginning with the most famous sphinx, the one that stands before the pyramids of Giza in Egypt, Regier traces the career of the half-human, half-monster hybrid through dreams, literature, and visual art. Always he finds paradox to be the essence of the creature; it is seductive and destructive, alluring and repellent, elusive and confrontive. Many illustrations, ranging from the familiar (Ingres, Gerome, Marvel Comics) to the obscure (political cartoons, stereoscopes, old postcards) enhance the value of the book as a reference for those intrigued by art's most monstrous charmer. Patricia Monaghan
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Review

“A very accomplished, well-written book. Book of the Sphinx is immensely erudite, with a wealth of references from all historical periods, from ancient Egypt to modern times, and from the most diverse realms.”—Jonathan Culler, the author of Structuralist Poetics: Structuralism, Linguistics and the Study of Literature (Jonathan Culler )

“A successfully playful work of nonfiction that situates itself in the academic landscape somewhere between cultural history and comparative literature, Sphinx is both scholarly and imaginative. . . . Every good library should have it, and so should every coffee table.”—Joshua T. Katz, American Journal of Archaeology (Joshua T. Katz )

"Book of the Sphinx is a delight. Willis Regier is not only very learned but also creative in making fiction, even poetry, out of the myth of the Sphinx and the histories of that myth. His own retellings are artful and compelling."—Gregory Nagy, author of Plato''s Rhapsody and Homer''s Music: The Poetics of the Panathenaic Festival in Classical Athens (Gregory Nagy )

"Regier. . . . Offers here an erudite account of appearances of the Sphinx. . . . So intimate is Regier''s familiarity with the Sphinx that this reviewer would be astonished if he missed even one reference to this remarkable composite monster. An added joy is Regier''s light and witty tone and his engaging prose, which frequently rises to the level of poetry."—Choice (CHOICE )

Delightful. . . . Book of the Sphinx is happy all the way through: a grab bag , treasure trove, and star chart of the mythic monster''s whereabouts in art, religion, history, and literature, with the winks, nods, footnotes, bird trills, and memory-bank shots of a scholar so intimately at home that he seems, like his subject, to be playing with his food. The illustrations are as sly as the text. . . . Regier [is] my hero of culture for the month."—John Leonard, Harper''s (John Leonard Harper's )