The Sorcerer's Apprentice - by Jack Zipes (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A diverse new anthology that traces the meaning and magic of the sorcerer's apprentice tale throughout history

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" might conjure up images of Mickey Mouse from the Disney film Fantasia, or of Harry Potter. As this anthology reveals, however, "sorcerer's apprentice" tales--in which a young person rebels against, or complies with, an authority who holds the keys to magical powers--have been told through the centuries from classical times to today. This collection brings together more than fifty sorcerer's apprentice stories by a plethora of writers, including Ovid, Sir Walter Scott, and the Brothers Grimm. In an extensive introduction, fairy-tale scholar Jack Zipes discusses the significance of the apprentice stories, the contradictions in popular retellings, and the importance of magic as a tool of resistance against figures who abuse their authority. Twenty specially commissioned black-and-white illustrations by noted artist Natalie Frank bring the stories to visual life.

Review Quotes

"A comprehensive anthology. . . . Also of note are artist Frank's gorgeous illustrations."--Library Journal

"A selection of high-quality tales. . . . This book offers a convincing explanation for the immortality of tales featuring the sorcerer's apprentice."--Yelena Francis, Journal of Folklore Research

"An eclectic collection . . . spanning millennia and continents."--Cameron Woodhead, Sydney Morning Herald

"It is not often that a new book comes along that is both a breakthrough in scholarly terms and also a magnificent work of art. Jack Zipes's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, illustrated by Natalie Frank, is both."--Maria Tatar, Breezes from Wonderland

"Jack Zipes has always been a kind of sorcerer himself, skilled in discovering, transforming, translating, and understanding the old tales of magic that appear in different but similar forms all over the world. This is a wonderful collection."--Alison Lurie, author of Don't Tell the Grown-Ups

About the Author

Jack Zipes is the editor and translator of The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (Princeton) and the editor of The Great Fairy Tale Tradition (Norton). Natalie Frank is an American artist whose work is in multiple museum collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Brooklyn Museum.