"What Is It Then between Us? marks the appearance of a bright new star in the poetry criticism firmament. Eric Murphy Selinger explores the complex history of American love poetry with panache, acumen, and scholarly precision. His readings of love poems by writers as diverse as Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson, William Carlos Williams, and James Merrill are both nimble and persuasive. Itself written con amore, What Is It Then between Us? is a pioneering study of the imaginative ways our poets have recorded the ordeals and pleasures of love in their verse." Herbert Leibowitz, Editor and...

Despite the prejudices of critics, popular romance fiction remains a complex, dynamic genre. It consistently maintains the largest market share in the American publishing industry, even as it welcomes new subgenres like queer and BDSM romance. Digital publishing originated in erotic romance, and savvy on-line communities have exploded myths about the genre's readership. Romance scholarship now reflects this diversity, transformed by interdisciplinary scrutiny, new critical approaches, and an unprecedented international dialogue between authors, scholars, and fans. These eighteen essays...

That popular romance fiction constitutes the largest segment of the global consumer book market is well-established. Less well-known, though no less important, is the worldwide presence of scholarship that studies this global genre and its remarkable readership. Bringing together an international group of scholars, The Ashgate Research Companion to Popular Romance Fiction offers a state-of-the-art review of scholarship in this vibrant and still-emerging field. In recognition of the diversity of the form, the Companion provides a history of the genre, an overview of disciplinary approaches to...