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  Paul Robichaud’s beautifully written, scholarly and readable account of Pan’s persistence. We’re dangerously bored with the words we usually use to describe our crises. Pan, through Robichaud, gives us some potent old language with which to panic more productively. This book was first published in 2021, and its reissue couldn’t be more timely.

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  Times Literary Supplement

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  A fascinating account of a strange god with meme-like reach across the ages, and a study in the temporal shape-shifting of mythology itself.

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  The Spectator

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  Robichaud offers readers an exercise in thinking through the many and varied relationships between religion and culture. His subject is Pan, that horned, lusty, and cloven hoofed god who was human and goat and deity all wrapped into one . . . An insightful and stimulating read! Recommended.

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  Choice

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  Paul Robichaud’s Pan: The Great God’s Modern Return tracks the god from his origins as a guardian of Arcadian shepherds to his modern forms of trickster god primarily in the young adult genre of fiction. Along the way Robichaud examines the artwork, poetry, literature, and even music with Pan as the central figure. His prose paints a gorgeous picture of the misunderstood god and how changes in societal norms have erased or enhanced various aspects of the god over time.

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  Folklore

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  From ancient myth to contemporary art and literature, a beguiling look at the many incarnations of the mischievous – and culturally immortal – god Pan . . . In exquisite prose, Paul Robichaud explores how Pan has been imagined in mythology, art, literature, music, spirituality, and popular culture through the centuries . . . Always the outsider, he has been the god of choice for gay writers, occult practitioners, and New Age mystics. And although ancient sources announced his death, he has lived on through the work of Arthur Machen, Gustav Mahler, Kenneth Grahame, D. H. Lawrence, and countless others. Pan: The Great God’s Modern Return traces his intoxicating dance.

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  New Books Network

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  The multiple identities and reincarnations of Pan are eloquently examined by Paul Robichaud in this fascinating book. Every age has its own version of Pan that echoes his Greek origins . . . This book is probably the most extensive study of Pan attempted. And it’s very well written. Robichaud is not only an academic but a published poet and it shows in the elegance of his sentences – sensitive and careful attention is given to the shades of meaning attached to Pan . . . And it’s not just the words but the images that captivate. The book has a generous number of colour illustrations . . . If you are looking for a pleasurable source book on everything about Pan then Paul Robinchaud’s is it. An important and self-recommending study. I loved it.

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  Alan Price, Magonia Review of Books

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  Pan: The Great God’s Modern Return is probably the most thorough overview of the Arcadian goat-footed deity ever written. The book traces the history of Pan from his ancient past to his contemporary depictions . . . You’ll leave with a greater understanding of this vast, complex, and often paradoxical and contradictory deity throughout time . . . you won’t be disappointed if you’re interested in Pan as a myth, an occult spirit, an artistic expression, a psychological archetype, an embodiment of queerness, or a combination of these areas. This book covers it all.

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  Mat Auryn, Modern Witch

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  It is this long history of variation in both what he is and what he represents that Robichaud‘s recent book Pan: The Great God’s Modern Return explores. By examining how the god has been understood and represented down through history, Robichaud presents a multifaceted and remarkably changeable portrait of a deity whose history is filled with mysteries, tricks, and turnings as represented in the wealth of stories, songs, and images in which he has appeared . . . Very interesting – as well as enlightening.

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  The Well-read Naturalist

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  If you are interested in Pan in any way, from his presence in literature or art to his magical presence in myth and vision, and the myriad ways that his shape flits throughout human history, be it on the edges or in our midst, then Pan: The Great God’s Modern Return is simply a must-purchase. It is, without doubt, the most wide-ranging treatment of the goat-foot god I’ve ever read, combining thorough attention to detail and research, yet at the same time highly accessible to a general reader . . . This book is a tremendous achievement and deserves a treasured place on the bookshelf of anyone who hearkens to the call of Pan.

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  Enfolding.org

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  Simply the most wide-ranging and up-to-date exploration of the impact of Pan on the Western imagination yet written.

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  Ronald Hutton, author of The Triumph of the Moon

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  We get the pleasure of seeing this goat-like god pop up everywhere from classic children’s literature to romantic novels to early environmentalist tracts . . . The result is a tour de force.

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  Pericles Lewis, author of The Cambridge Introduction to Modernism

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  Robichaud opens the doors to this both mystical and magical figure who has pervaded our history and literature. Starting with Pan's origins in ancient Arcadia we're taken through a labyrinthine journey through time, and sometimes space, to gain insight into Pan’s influence . . . Robichaud creates not only the most extensive account of one of mythology’s most elusive characters, but also creates a history emboldened with a charm and style that will captivate and engage any reader.

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  The Pilgrim magazine

Paul Robichaud is Professor and Chair of English at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut. He is the author of Making the Past Present: David Jones, the Middle Ages, and Modernism (2007), and his poems have appeared in various magazines, including Agenda and the Hudson Review.