by Willis Goth Regier

Book of the Sphinx is the product of an obsession.  The more I learned about Sphinxes, the more I wanted to know, and there was always more.  Imagine a curious cat the size of the Sphinx of Giza.

My curiosity began with that enormous Sphinx, known through the centuries as Horemakhet.  I wondered what it had to do with Phix, the man-eating Sphinx of Thebes, the one that posed deadly riddles.  These are
the two most famous Sphinxes, and there are many more, a vast number.  I set out to find all I could, sort
them, study them, and think about their types, tales, and purposes. 

Sphinxes stalk through murder mysteries, romance novels, riddle books, comic books, song lyrics, war propaganda, psychoanalysis, money, the Masons, tobacco companies, and almost anything that has to do with sex.  Why do so many sexy Sphinxes end up dead, especially when they are female?  When a woman is called “a Sphinx” should she feel praised or endangered?  What sex is the Sphinx of Giza?

Oedipus defeated the Sphinx of Thebes, or just thought he did.  Some considered Oedipus a genius, others saw him as a foolish know-it-all.  Since I wanted to know all about Sphinxes, I stepped into his sandals.  They pinched.

Illustrating the book was a project unto itself:  more than a hundred illustrations show Sphinxes old and new, including the recurring burial of Horemakhet by the Sahara.  Book of the Sphinx was designed by the great Richard Eckersley, who added his own incomparable magic. 

Deeply serious, Sphinxes provoke comedy.  I made room for that, too.  One review called the book “a romp.”  I’d be delighted if that’s how readers experience it.
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Willis Goth Regier’s Book of the Sphinx is now available in paperback from Bison Books.