Gilgamesh the King

We're used to hearing about the latest tell-all memoir from one of today's sports figures, political insiders, or celebrity wannabes. But what if we discovered that one of history's greatest heroes had written his life story? That's the premise behind Robert Silverberg's amazing novel "Gilgamesh the King." The journey begins when six-year-old Gilgamesh's father dies. As he grows to manhood and eventually ascends to the throne, he faces many challenges along the way: political intrigue, war, the burden of leadership. But none are as difficult as his intense internal struggles against loneliness and his own mortality. Weaving together historical data, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and his own fertile imagination, Silverberg creates a rich and compassionate portrait of a man who lived about 2500 B.C.