Mickelsson's Ghosts is John Gardner's final novel of 1982. It follows Peter Mickelsson, former football player and current Professor of Philosophy at Binghamton University. Mickelsson is driven, opinionated, probably a drunk, definitely bankrupt, and going completely mad. During his descent to madness he somehow scrounges enough money together to buy a farmhouse in northern Pennsylvania's Endless Mountains. The house is haunted by the ghosts of an incestuous family. During his more and more frequent absences from reality, the self-destructive Mickelsson has several highly regrettable affairs and becomes involved with a sectarian religious group which may or may not be entirely imagined.
