Kategoria BISAC: Literary Criticism >> American - General

This new, uncluttered study of Sylvia Plath's poetry offers a calculated balance between feminist theory and the old heritage of the New Criticism. The apparent thematic peg here is Plath's fascination with mirrors in her life and in her work. . . . This is a very solid work; it is the most readable of the recent books on Plath, and, among the recent works this reviewer knows of, none is comparable. "Choice"

Much of Sylvia Plath's poetry springs from her attempts to recognize and reconcile her own paradoxes: the ones she found inside herself and the ones she faced in the world in which...

With its companion volume, this book effectively provides descriptions and evaluations of award-winning American fiction for children over the last 125 years. The compilers provide clear, insightful, and critical evaluations. Despite its title, the bibliography lists fiction for both children and young adults. . . . These two volumes, likely to become reference mainstays, are recommended for academic libraries that support children's and young adult literature or teacher education, and for public libraries and media centers. "Choice"

This volume is a fine addition to the reference works...

This brilliant, faultless, impeccably constructed work will maintain its status as an outstanding research tool invaluable both to undergraduate students and to scholars of James. It is unquestionably worthy of The Master, ' its subject. "Choice"

Called a Shakespeare of the novel and America's only fully realized literary artist by Leon Edel, his prize-winning biographer, Henry James was also one of the most prolific American writers. His massive literary output included approximately 300 critical essays, 134 novels and stories, 15 plays, and some 15,000 letters. "A Henry James...

Often thought of as the quintessential poet of New England, Robert Frost is one of the most widely read American poets of the 20th century. He was a master of poetic form and imagery, his works seemed to capture the spirit of America, and he became so emblematic of his country that he read his work at President Kennedy's inauguration and traveled to Israel, Greece, and the Soviet Union as an emissary of the U.S. State Department. While many readers think of him as the personification of New England, he was born in San Francisco, published his first book of poetry in England, matured as a...

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was a mystery in her own lifetime, and her poems continue to challenge their readers. For many, she remains a mythic recluse always dressed in white. Although factual knowledge has corrected that image, it was firmly established in Amherst long before the poet's death. Her works were largely neglected during her lifetime as most of her poems were published posthumously. Since "Poems by Emily Dickinson" appeared in 1890, readers have been raising questions about the poet, her world, and the works that have established her as a famous literary figure. An...

As the author of "The Women of Brewster Place," "Linden Hills," "Mama Day," and "Bailey's Cafe," Gloria Naylor is widely respected as one of the most important contemporary African American women writers. This volume provides comprehensive coverage of the critical response to her works. The book is divided into sections devoted to each of Naylor's novels. Within each section, seminal articles and book chapters comment on her writing. Special attention is given to African American and feminist perspectives on her canon. In addition, many of the essays discuss the relationship of Naylor's...

F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most challenging authors of American literature. He is known internationally as the author of "The Great Gatsby" (1925), a twentieth-century literary classic studied by high school students and scholars alike. But Fitzgerald was an amazingly productive writer despite numerous personal and professional difficulties. From the beginning of his literary career with the publication of "This Side of Paradise" in 1920 to his death in 1940, he wrote 5 novels, roughly 180 short stories, numerous essays and reviews, much poetry, several plays, and some film scripts....

Relatively little critical attention has been directed towards the explication of James Merrill's difficult poems, much less towards the understanding of his densely-layered symbolism. This is the first comprehensive study to look at Merrill's difficult symbolic system and to provide a close reading of Merrill's epic poem "The Changing Light at Sandover." Adams reads Merrill's poetry through various lenses, primarily those of Freudian psychology and of the Jungian archetypal system. His approach allows the reader to view individual works as part of the larger picture of Merrill's quest to...

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) is one of 20th-century America's foremost fiction and folklore writers. Though she was criticized by some of her contemporaries, including Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison, her works are now frequently taught in literature courses and are widely admired for their style and substance. This reference book is a comprehensive guide to the large body of work written about her in the last 75 years. Included are annotated entries for books, dissertations, and theses written about Hurston's life and literary career. The volume also looks at hundreds of articles, book...

African-American author Langston Hughes was a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance, and interest in his works increases daily. Though remembered primarily as a poet, Hughes was active in almost every genre imaginable. He wrote newspaper articles and short stories, contributed to drama and musical theater, and penned lyrics for the blues and popular songs. He also collaborated with some of the most gifted individuals of his time, including Zora Neale Hurston, Arna Bontemps, Kurt Weill, and Elmer Rice. Through hundreds of alphabetically arranged entries, this encyclopedia provides...

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) is arguably the most widely read 19th-century author in America. Even through the 1990s, her books continued to appear on bestseller lists and her works were made into films. She has long been a staple of children's literature courses and now also receives significant attention in American studies and women's studies classes. While her tremendous popularity has yielded numerous biographies and a growing number of critical works, very few reference books have been devoted to Alcott studies and none are particularly current or complete. This book collects in a...

Celebrating the wealth of quality multicultural literature recently published for children and young adults, this valuable resource examines the fiction, oral tradition, and poetry from four major ethnic groups in the United States. Each of these genres is considered in turn for the literature dealing with African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native-American Indians. Taking up where their earlier volume This Land is Our Land left off, Helbig and Perkins have teamed up once again to identify and expertly evaluate more than 500 multicultural books published from...

Clifford Odets, one of the 20th century's leading American playwrights, was a fervent believer in democracy and the human ability to overcome obstacles. Yet his legacy has been overshadowed by persistent attempts to read him as a thoroughly political playwright. This new consideration reads his career--the work itself and the conditions of its invention--as cultural creations in a time of political, social, and economic change.

Spanning two World Wars, the Depression, and the Cold War, the works of Clifford Odets illuminate a period of tremendous change in American life and theatre....

Ross Macdonald is best known as the creator of private detective Lew Archer and as the author of such works as "The Drowning Pool" (1950) and "The Underground Man" (1971). One of the most popular American mystery writers of the 20th century, he is often compared to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler-authors from whom he borrowed literary techniques-but is generally considered more serious and complex, often writing about dysfunctional families in academic settings. This reference is a convenient guide to his life and works.

Included are numerous alphabetically arranged entries for...