From Medea to Goneril to Sharon Stone's ice-pick murderer to Susan Smith, the image of the violent woman has fascinated readers and audiences in a way that other figures have not. Jo Hendin looks at the figure of the violent woman in her latest book where she argues that a violent woman is a grenade pitched towards both conservative and liberal views of women. Peopled with some of the most fascinating women in history, both real and imagined, Heartbreakers is a thought-provoking read.

This Concise Companion is a guide to the creative output of the United States in the postwar period, in its diverse energies, shapes and forms.

• Embraces diversity, covering Vietnam literature, gay and lesbian literature, American Jewish fiction, Italian American literature, Irish American writing, emergent ethnic literatures, African American writing, jazz, film, drama and more.
  
• Shows how different genres and approaches opened up creative possibilities and interacted in the postwar period.
  
• Portrays the postwar United...