The Return of Ansel Gibbs

The Return of Ansel Gibbs opens with a news conference and an explanation from the central character, a public figure, a politician of sorts....Buechner's central character in the novel is a man of words, a man of civilization and sophistication, a man of breeding and sensitivity. Ansel Gibbs, the VIP, has been appointed to a cabinet post by the president. The nomination precipitates a personal crisis for Gibbs, who has been in retirement for two years on his farm in Montana and now must journey to Washington for Senate hearings to confirm his appointment....The novel is another consideration of the courage required to assert one's humanity in the modern world. For Ansel Gibbs, the central word is "ambivalence."Winner of the Rosenthal Award 1959.