Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams

A collection of prose writing from legendary poet Sylvia Plath, with an introduction by Ted Hughes—now available as a Harper Perennial Olive Edition.

“What I fear most, I think, is the death of the imagination. . . . If I sit still and don't do anything, the world goes on beating like a slack drum, without meaning. We must be moving, working, making dreams to run toward; The poverty of life without dreams is too horrible to imagine.”—Sylvia Plath, “Cambridge Notes” (From Notebooks, February 1956)Renowned for her poetry, Sylvia Plath was also a brilliant writer of prose. This collection of short stories, essays, and diary excerpts highlights her fierce concentration on craft, the vitality of her intelligence, and the yearnings of her imagination. Featuring an introduction by Plath's husband, the late British poet Ted Hughes, these writings also reflect themes and images she would fully realize in her poetry. Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams truly showcases the talent and genius of Sylvia Plath.

About the Author

Sylvia Plath’s books include the poetry collections The Colossus, Crossing the Water, Winter Trees, Ariel, and The Collected Poems, which won the Pulitzer Prize, as well as the classic novel The Bell Jar and the Journals of Sylvia Plath. She was married to the poet Ted Hughes and died in 1963.