"Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros" is not directly linked to any of Beagle's other works, and Beagle has made it very different from The Last Unicorn and The Unicorn Sonata. However, it is part of a remarkable maturation of his art, part of a period in which he has written works of transcendent beauty such as The Innkeeper's Song and Giant Bones. Like The Last Unicorn, "Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros" is a sentimental comedy; like The Unicorn Sonata, it places its story in modern times, telling of a person's wonderful, spiritually enriching experiences with the supernatural.