From "Love Story" in 1970 to "Prizes," his most recent bestseller, Erich Segal has created a body of fiction that testifies to the importance of traditional values and virtues in contemporary life. To drive home his views, Segal revitalizes the sentimental novel, which evokes emotion to assert moral precepts. This study, the first full-length examination of his work, explores the development of his art and analyzes each of his seven novels in turn. Pelzer shows how Segal's novels explore the parent-child relationship, the price of success, the importance of love, marriage, and human...

The dazzling, romantic fiction of F. Scott Fitzgerald manages to captivate each new generation of readers. This critical introduction, written specifically for students, offers insightful yet accessible literary criticism for five novels: DEGREESUThis Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby, Tender Is the Night, and DEGREESUThe Last Tycoon. A full chapter is devoted to examining each of these works, with an indepth discussion of character development, thematic concerns and plot structure. The introduction to each novel traces its genesis and the critical...