O! Enkidu! by Eric Farnsworth
The Other Story of the Epic of Gilgamesh
In the oldest recorded story of the Western world, a wild man is created by the gods to bring down the most powerful king the world had ever seen. And in that tale the wild man, Enkidu, is instead “civilized” and helps the king increase his power.
That’s the story told by the scribes, anyway. But there’s another story here. And in O! Enkidu!, Eric Farnsworth tells us that story with a compelling simplicity evocative of Le Guin and Hemingway.
The Other Story of the Epic of Gilgamesh
In the oldest recorded story of the Western world, a wild man is created by the gods to bring down the most powerful king the world had ever seen. And in that tale the wild man, Enkidu, is instead “civilized” and helps the king increase his power.
That’s the story told by the scribes, anyway. But there’s another story here. And in O! Enkidu!, Eric Farnsworth tells us that story with a compelling simplicity evocative of Le Guin and Hemingway.
The Other Story of the Epic of Gilgamesh
In the oldest recorded story of the Western world, a wild man is created by the gods to bring down the most powerful king the world had ever seen. And in that tale the wild man, Enkidu, is instead “civilized” and helps the king increase his power.
That’s the story told by the scribes, anyway. But there’s another story here. And in O! Enkidu!, Eric Farnsworth tells us that story with a compelling simplicity evocative of Le Guin and Hemingway.
About the Author
Eric Farnsworth isn’t a writer.
He isn’t much of a bicycle mechanic
or gardener or welder either, for that matter.
But still he does those things.
He and his wife Jean live in Kansas and dance tango.
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As hunter-gatherers weave between birdcalls and boulders, the city reaches for one wild young man. He enters its gate and gains a new self. Lucid and confident, this legend of love and betrayal moves us into its dream-flight. Desire has a ritual; grief, a flavor; determination, a knife.
— Tucker Lieberman, author of Enkidu Is Dead and Not Dead / Enkidu está muerto y no lo está
Eric Farnsworth shows us the Epic of Gilgamesh on a human scale through Enkidu’s story, illuminating the foundations of our current world to suggest what we might create instead. Superb and highly original, O! Enkidu! is a conversational and poetic page-turner that will stay with you long after the last page.
— Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, past Kansas Poet Laureate and author of The Magic Eye
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Imprint: Sphinx
Publication date: 8 July, 2025
Formats: Paperback, Casebound hardback, EPUB, Kindle
ISBN: 9781915952400 (perfect)
ISBN: 9781915952417 (casebound)
ISBN: 9781915952424 (epub)
Pages: 158
Size : 5.5 in/140mm(w) x 8.5in /216mm(h)
