First published in 1997, this volume is an attempt to prise open the name of John Bunyan. It aims to examine the operations of that name, to explore the discursive techniques which produced the figure of this author, both in the seventeenth century and later, and to identify the different meanings which have been ascribed to it in the history of its production. It may be read as a ‘Dear John’ letter to the author, or as an exercise in cultural materialism which examines the production and reproduction of a particular figure of authority, the author, within specific cultural formations at different historical moments.