A master of extreme situations, Charles Dickens populated his novels with unforgettable characters and elaborate settings. "Critical Companion to Charles Dickens" is an essential reference to everything one needs to know about Dickens and his work. This revised, reorganized, and fully updated revision of "Charles Dickens A to Z" contains extensive updates, including expanded commentary on the novels and on the major characters, as well as updates to reflect the latest in Dickens scholarship. This comprehensive, single-volume reference contains entries on this writer's works, including the...

Edgar Allan Poe is one of America's best-loved authors. During Poe's short and turbulent life, he invented the modern detective story and horror genre with such immortal works as "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," and "The Fall of the House of Usher." He is also known for the haunting melody of his poetry, as in the classics "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," and many more. In addition, Poe wrote numerous critical articles, reviews, and essays on a variety of subjects. "Critical Companion to Edgar Allan Poe" covers all of...

Widely acclaimed as one of the finest short-story writers and known for her acerbic wit, complex themes, and illuminating portrayal of the American South, Flannery O'Connor is a favorite among students, scholars, and general readers. Known for her stories "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and "Everything that Rises Must Converge," O'Connor's work often appears on class syllabi and in college courses today."Critical Companion to Flannery O'Connor" examines her life and works, and includes critical analyses of some of the themes in her writing, as well as entries on related topics and relevant...

"Critical Companion to Ernest Hemingway" is an encyclopedic guide to the life and works of this great American writer. This book contains all the text of the acclaimed "Ernest Hemingway A to Z", reorganized into a student-friendly format. Material new to this edition includes critical commentary of all Hemingway's novels and major short stories; further reading lists; an expanded biography; and new illustrations. This volume features entries on all of Hemingway's major and minor works, places and events related to his works, major figures in his life, and more. Appendixes include a complete...

"Critical Companion to William Faulkner" - a major revision and expansion of "William Faulkner A to Z" - features more than 80,000 additional words. Character entries and Critical Commentary sections on Faulkner's major works have been significantly expanded, and entirely new sections providing excerpts from contemporary reviews have been added. Other new features include further reading lists for Faulkner's major novels and short stories as well as a detailed chronology of one of Faulkner's greatest and most complicated works, "As I Lay Dying". This title covers such topics as: descriptions...

Known for his masterwork, "The Great Gatsby" and its criticism of American society during the 1920s, F. Scott Fitzgerald claimed the distinction of writing what many consider to be the "great American novel." "Critical Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald" studies the legacy of this writer, highlighting significant themes and historical references of his various works. This revised, reorganized, and fully updated revision of "F. Scott Fitzgerald A to Z" contains extensive updates, including new critical commentary on all Fitzgerald's major novels and short stories. This accessible volume is...

"An excellent resource for scholars of Melville and for undergraduates and graduate students" - "Choice". "Critical Companion to Herman Melville" examines the life and work of a writer who spent much of his career in obscurity. Herman Melville has since become known as one of America's greatest novelists, short story writers, and poets. The author of "Moby-Dick", "Billy Budd", "Typee", "White-Jacket", "Bartleby the Scrivener," and many other classic works, Melville was rediscovered in the 1920s by a new generation of writers who saw in his writing an evolving sense of modernism. His work is...

Critical Companion to Zora Neale Hurston is a reliable and up-to-date resource for high school and college-level students, providing reliable information on Hurston's life and work. This new volume covers all her writings, including Their Eyes Were Watching God; her landmark works of folklore and anthropology, such as Mules and Men; and shorter works, such as her story "The Gilded Six-Bits." Detailed entries on her life and related people, places, and topics round out this comprehensive and in-depth guide.

This study explores the personal, historical, and artistic influences that combined to form such dark and influential American masterpieces as 'The Iceman Cometh', 'The Emperor Jones', 'Mourning Becomes Electra', 'Hughie', and - arguably the finest tragedy ever written by an American - 'Long Day's Journey into Night'.

The Bible is the most widely distributed of all books and contains some of the world's greatest literature - from the songs of praise in Psalms to the great stories in the book of Genesis. This study examines the Bible as a work of literature, focusing on its language, verbal structures and the imaginative quality of its thought.