Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000 Books

Book SynopsisThe angel can be viewed as a signal reference to modernist attempts to accommodate religious languages to self-consciously modern cultures. This book uses the angel to explore the relations between modernist literature and early twentieth-century debates over the secular and/or religious character of the modern age.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Twentieth-Century Angelology 'On the Side of the Angels': Historical Angels and Angels of History 'The Angel Club': The Angel versus the Ubermensch 'Angels on All Fours': The Third Sex and Angels with 'A Difference' 'The Necessary Angel of Earth': WWII and the Utopian Imagination Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy provides an excellent way of looking at some intriguing issues in philosophy, from vegetarianism and Artificial Intelligence to God, space and time. This is an entertaining yet thought provoking volume for students, philosophers and fans of The Hitchhiker's series.Trade Review'...very readable and mind-expanding collection...' - PD Smith, The GuardianTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements ('thanks for all the fish') Introduction Nicholas Joll Notes on Contributors PART I: ETHICS 'Eat Me': Vegetarianism and Consenting Animals; B.Saunders & E.Harding Mostly Harmless? Hitchhiker's and the Ethics of Entertainment; N.Joll PART II: THE MEANING OF LIFE Life, the Universe, and Absurdity; A.Kind The Wowbagger Case: Immortality and What Makes Life Meaningful; T.Chappell PART III: METAPHYSICS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 'I Think You Ought To Know I'm Feeling Very Depressed': Marvin and Artificial Intelligence; J.Goodenough From Deep Thought to Digital Metaphysics; B.Dainton PART IV: LOGIC, METHOD, AND SATIRE 'God . . Promptly Vanishes in a Puff of Logic'; M.Friend The Judo Principle, Philosophical Method, and the Logic of Jokes; A.Aberdein The Funniest of All Improbable Worlds Hitchhiker's as Philosophical Satire; A.Pawlak & N.Joll Glossary Bibliography (of Adams, Philosophy, and Everything) Indexes

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Book SynopsisThrough a close-reading of the work of five prominent American postmodernist writers, this book re-evaluates the role of the past in recent American fiction, outlines the development of the postmodernist historical novel and considers the waning influence of postmodernism in contemporary American literature.Trade Review'American Postmodernist Fiction and the Past offers a new and thought provoking understanding of how a crucial strain of the American historical novel has developed through the postmodern era.' - Paula Geyh, Associate Professor of English, Yeshiva University, USATable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 'Nothing but words': Chronicling and Storytelling in Robert Coover's The Public Burning 'A world inside the world': Don DeLillo's Libra and Latent History Pynchon Plays Dice: Mason & Dixon and Quantum History 'A long list of regrettable actions': William T. Vollmann's Symbolic History 'There is only narrative': E.L. Doctorow Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis Guide analyzes the criticism of English-language literature from the major regions and countries of the postcolonial world. Criticism on works by key writers, such as Jean Rhys, V.S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie and Jamaica Kincaid, is discussed throughout the volume to illustrate the themes and concepts that are essential to an understanding of postcolonial literature and the development of criticism in the field. Criticism and theoretical approaches are discussed in relation to analyses of literary works from South Africa, Nigeria, Jamaica, Antigua, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka. Criticism on Native American writing, African American literature, as well as Irish, Scottish and Welsh liberationist texts are also mentioned throughout. The book concludes with a discussion of the theoretical debates surrounding neocolonialism, globalization and what has been referred to as and the rise of a new world economic empire in the West that has accelerated since the dismantl

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Book Synopsis100 American Crime Writers features discussion and analysis of the lives of crime writers and their key works, examining the developments in American crime writing from the Golden Age to hardboiled detective fiction. This study is essential to scholars and an ideal introduction to crime fiction for anyone who enjoys this fascinating genre.Trade Review“100 American Writers is a book that I think will appeal to a significant number of readers. … there is a bibliography and a useful list of suggested further reading. … For anyone seeking an introduction to American crime fiction, this book will make a very good choice.” (Martin Edwards, Do You Write Under Your Own Name, Doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.de, August, 2015)Table of ContentsAcknowledgements 'Out of the Venetian Vase': From Golden Age to Hard-boiled 'After These Mean Streets': Crime Fiction and the Chandler Inheritance Megan Abbott Paul Auster W.T. Ballard Ann Bannon Robert Bloch Lawrence Block Leigh Brackett Gil Brewer Fredric Brown Howard Browne Edward Bunker James Lee Burke W.R. Burnett James M. Cain Paul Cain Truman Capote John Dickson Carr Vera Caspary Raymond Chandler Harlan Coben Max Allan Collins Richard Condon Michael Connelly Patricia Cornwell Robert Crais James Crumley Carroll John Daly Norbert Davis Mignon G. Eberhart James Ellroy Janet Evanovich William Faulkner Kenneth Fearing Rudolph Fisher Kinky Friedman Jacques Futrelle Erle Stanley Gardner William Campbell Gault David Goodis Sue Grafton Davis Grubb Frank Gruber Dashiell Hammett Thomas Harris Carl Hiaasen Patricia Highsmith George V. Higgins Tony Hillerman Chester Himes Dorothy B. Hughes Roy Huggins Day Keene Jonathan Kellerman C. Daly King Jonathan Latimer Dennis Lehane Elmore Leonard Ira Levin Elizabeth Linington Eleazar Lipsky John Lutz Ed McBain Horace McCoy William P. McGivern John D. MacDonald Ross Macdonald Dan J. Marlowe Margaret Millar Walter Mosley Marcia Muller Frederick Nebel Barbara Neely William F. Nolan Sara Paretsky Robert B. Parker George Pelecanos Edgar Allan Poe Melville Davisson Post Richard S. Prather Bill Pronzini Ellery Queen (aka Dannay and Lee) Arthur B. Reeve Mary Roberts Rinehart James Sallis George S. Schuyler Viola Brothers Shore Iceberg Slim Mickey Spillane Rex Stout Jim Thompson Ernest Tidyman Lawrence Treat S.S. Van Dine (Willard Huntington Wright) Joseph Wambaugh Carolyn Wells Donald E Westlake Raoul Whitfield Charles Willeford Charles Williams Cornell Woolrich Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis book rethinks the origins and nature of magical realism and provides detailed readings of key novels by Asturias, Carpentier, García Márquez, Rushdie, and Okri. Identifying two different strands of the mode, one characterized by faith, the other by irreverence, Warnes makes available a new vocabulary for the discussion of magical realism.Trade Review'Clearly in touch with the central voices in this dialogue...Warnes achieves the task for which he aims. In the process, he composes a text that will be useful to both novice and experienced critics of magical realism, as well as scholars of postcolonial and twentieth-century literature more broadly' - Kim Sasser, University of Edniburgh, UK, Interventions 'If you are planning (or already deliver) a final-year undergraduate or postgraduate course dedicated to magical realism be it within postcolonial studies, comparative literature, or Hispanic (Latin American) studies this book can provide a complete guide for the course...this is is a fresh evaluation of a well-scrutinized field, demonstrating that the loose genre of magical realism, despite having been approached from all angles and savaged in many a poorly researched undergraduate essay, still bears valuable substance for an understanding of the literature.' -William Rowlandson, University of Kent, UK, Modern Language Review 'This book is a good attempt to pull together the various and often contradictory strands of writing that can be categorized as magical realism and to see similarities amongst them, as well as weighing up and evaluating the range of theoretical work that has been published on magical realism. Furthermore, Warnes attempts to not only focus on the ludic qualities of this style of writing, which many other theorists have documented, but to argue for the realism of some of these works.' - Sara Mills, Sheffield Hallam University, UK, Safundi, THe Journal of South African and American Studies 'Among the recent publications which seek to offer yet another re-definition of magical realism, Christopher Warnes' study Magical Realism and the Postcolonial Novel: Between Faith and Irreverence accomplishes a double feat: while bringing into dialogue the development of both the term 'magical realism' and the mode itself, Warnes develops two paradigms representing two major structural and functional tendencies in magical realism...The result is not a redefinition of magical realism, but a thought provoking re-contextualization which offers a typology capable of spanning the varieties of the mode...the book is highly recommendable for anyone exploring magical realism, postcolonial literatures or hybrid genres.' -Jelena Kovacevic-Löckner, KULT onlineTable of ContentsPreface Introduction: Re-thinking Magical Realism Magical Realism as Postcolonial Romance Faith, Idealism and Irreverence in Asturias, Borges and Carpentier Magical Realism and Defamiliarisation in Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude Migrancy and Metamorphosis in Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses The African World View in Ben Okri's The Famished Road Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisForeword: "Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen's Antifascist Novel Bockelson: A History of Mass Hysteria" by Karl-Heinz Shopes The Beginning of the Tragedy The City of God The Sword The Last Whore King of the Sewer Desperate Hope Starvation Day of Wrath Lest I Be Burned in Eternal FireTrade Review"This book provides an imporant point of access to the phenomenon of Inner Emigration in Germany during the Third Reich. The vivid parallels between Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen's 1937 account of the Münster Anabaptist uprising in 1534 and Hitler's Third Reich in Germany make this intriguing work a fascinating document of opposition to the Nazi regime." - Neil H. Donahue, Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Hofstra UniversityTable of ContentsForeword: "Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen's Antifascist Novel Bockelson: A History of Mass Hysteria" by Karl-Heinz Shopes The Beginning of the Tragedy The City of God The Sword The Last Whore King of the Sewer Desperate Hope Starvation Day of Wrath Lest I Be Burned in Eternal Fire

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Book SynopsisA close colleague of Tolkein for many years, Zettersten offers here a personally informed analysis of his fiction. In light of his unusual life experience and enthusiasm for the study of languages, Zettersten finds in Tolkein's fiction the same animating passions that drove that great author as a youth, a soldier, a linguist, and an Oxford Don.Trade Review"This is a remarkable book - part memoir, part biography, part literary appreciation. It offers a fascinating perspective on Tolkien s life, scholarship, and fiction by someone uniquely placed to understand and connect them. As a philologist of international standing, Zettersten presents valuable insights into Tolkien s academic career; he reminds us of the immense contributions Tolkien made to the study of medieval language and literature, and how his scholarly life intertwined and interacted with his imaginative fiction. The whole exposition is grounded in Zettersten s vivid recollections of his friendship with the ageing Tolkien in Oxford, and what emerges is a deeply affectionate, personal portrait of a master storyteller and his work." - Richard Dance, Senior Lecturer in Old English, University of Cambridge "Zettersten's new biography of Tolkien is specially enlivened by the author's personal knowledge of him as a man and a scholar, through meetings in Oxford between 1959 and 1972;a common knowledge of the Scandinavian languages so important to Tolkien in his experiments with invented languages; and an extraordinary coincidence of interest in the same particular medieval text. This scholarly affinity gives to Zettersten an insider's view of the fruitful connection between philological research and myth-based, language-rich fiction. The writing is personal, and conveys a deep affection for Tolkien and a perhaps unusual insight into his absorption, in his later years, while ostensibly talking to his friend about philology, in his mythical, yet 'real' worlds." - Derek Pearsall, Gurney Professor Emeritus, Harvard University "A fascinating personal perspective on one of the most creative authors of the twentieth century. Zettersten draws on recollections of his Oxford encounters with the aged Tolkien to portray a man obsessed with an inner world of fantasy that, for him, was almost as tactile as daily life. Well-written and intellectually stimulating, especially in regard to Tolkien s 'code switching' between different languages and realities." - John D. Niles, President, International Society of Anglo-Saxonists "Many have written about the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien, but Zettersten's brilliant and enlightening book assesses Tolkien through the eyes of a fellow philologist. Both worked on the Middle English Ancrene Wisse, meeting frequently in the 60s and early 70s, Zettersten as a young scholar in his twenties and Tolkien after retirement. He calls their relationship 'some kind of father-son spirit or community of interests'. Zettersten brings to life the figure of Tolkien as a sympathetic colleague and congenial host, enthusiastic about ancient languages, gifted at creating private languages and an inspiring story-teller. Although it was historical philology which brought them together, Zettersten admirably demonstrates the close connection between Tolkien's philological research and his creative writing. Both are ardent 'word lovers' and what emerges as we read this book is that the words, or the invention of languages, create the vessel into which the fiction is poured - indeed the etymology of every word is a story. Altogether a stimulating, exciting and perceptive assessment of Tolkien's academic and fictional writing, and, above all, the values of friendship and loyalty which Tolkien held so dear." - Graham Caie, Vice Principal, University of GlasgowTable of ContentsForeword Our First Meeting Language Like Lightning from a Clear Sky Tolkien's Double Worlds Middle-earth From Bloemfontein to Birmingham From Sarehole to Shire An Orphan Drawn to Reading Student Life in Oxford Soldier at the Front Experience of War in Tolkien's Fiction Research as Motor Interlude at Leeds Interplay between Research and Fiction A Don on a Sidetrack The AB Language - A Unique Discovery Fantasy for Children and Adults The Final Years Facts and Fiction On the Truth of Myths The Reception of The Lord of the Rings in the World New Media Epilogue

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Book SynopsisThis second volume of ""The Theatre of the Holocaust"", when combined with the first, represents an international collection of plays on the Shoah. Editor Skloot presents and comments on six plays that acknowledge the theatrical forms of the postmodern age.

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Book SynopsisExplores the relationship between literature and film, what is involved in adaptation, and how best to judge films based on celebrated books. Robert Calder offers production histories, insight into both fortunate and misguided casting decisions, shrewd analyses of performances and film techniques, and summaries of public and critical responses.Trade Review“An astute and thought-provoking account of Somerset Maugham’s relationship to cinema. Comprehensive in scope, Calder’s book gathers together basic production information, chiefly on scripting and casting, on a large number of films derived from the works of one of the most popular and prolific writers of the twentieth century.”—Russell Campbell, author of Marked Women: Prostitutes and Prostitution in the Cinema“A thorough, well-researched study of all the films (and TV shows) based on Maugham, together with sharp critical appraisals and information about their production and initial reception. I learned something on almost every page.”—James Naremore, author of More than Night: Film Noir in Its ContextsTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments 1 Maugham, Hollywood, and Screenwriting 2 A New Industry Finds Gold in Somerset: The Silent Era 3 Swanson, Crawford, and Hayworth: Rain 4 Eagels and Davis: Evil behind the Smile: The Letter 5 Rebellious Wives, Secret Agents, and Beach Bums: Early Sound and the 1930s 6 Bette Davis’s Corrosive Mildred: Of Human Bondage 7 Garbo Speaks Maugham: The Painted Veil 8 Fascism, Bigamy, and the Creative Spirit: The 1940s 9 The Greatest Generation’s Quest: The Razor’s Edge 10 Life in Short Sharp Strokes: The Omnibus Films 11 Twenty-First-Century Perspectives: Up at the Villa and Being Julia 12 Looking Back and Looking Ahead Appendix: Film Productions of Maugham Works Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis critical exploration of modern drama starts with Buchner and Ibsen and then discusses the major playwrights who have shaped modern theatre - Strindberg, Chekhov, Pirandello, Brecht, Beckett and Handke. An introduction by the author assesses developments over the years.Trade Review"The best single study of the astonishing transformations dramatic art has undergone in the last century or so." Thomas R. Edwards, New York Times Book Review "In its field this is one of the choice books of the century. It moves toward the deepest sources of some great plays, so it deepens their effect on us." Stanley Kauffmann "The Making of Modern Drama has no rivals. Richard Gilman's account of his fascinating subject is written with love, measure, and authority." Susan Sontag "Gilman's book on the genesis and development of contemporary drama is acute, beautifully accomplished, and, I think, important." Donald Barthelme

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Book SynopsisA critical biography of Paul Celan, a German-speaking East European Jew who was one of Europe's most compelling postwar poets. It tells the story of his life, offers new translations of his poems, and illuminates the connection between Celan's lived experience and his poetry.Trade ReviewNominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award Chosen as a best book of 1995 by Village Voice Chosen as a best book of 1995 by the Times Literary Supplement Chosen as a best book of 1995 by the Philadelphia Inquirer Chosen as a best book of 1995 by Choice magazine "An important book. Celan is indeed a very great poet, Felstiner’s English translations of the poems are remarkably accurate and effective, and the argument of the book is both persuasive and informative."—Cyrus Hamlin, Yale University "I have been eagerly awaiting this book. John Felstiner’s brilliant and illuminating talks and articles about Celan, with the translations of his poems which they incorporate, have been of great interest to me for the past several years; and now we are provided with the comprehensive study toward which these were working. Felstiner is that increasingly rare thing, a critic who loves his subjects and enables readers to share that love by guiding them into a deeper understanding of their resonances. This is especially valuable in the case of Celan, whose work is at once so inward and such a quintessential artifact of history."—Denise Levertov "Felstiner’s book is, on every level, superb: it is essential to anyone interested in the work of one of the greatest and most moving Jewish poets of our turbulent time."—Elie Wiesel, Boston University "Felstiner has done the impossible--integrated Celan’s life and poetry without stinting either. The full weight and agony of the poet’s fate as Jew and survivor are captured. Felstiner translates with care and caring the major poems and makes them accessible by a commentary that scrupulously records the occasions to which they are linked and the literary allusions they encode. The scholar becomes a poet writing about the greatest of the post-war German poets."—Geoffrey Hartman, Yale University "This is an absolutely essential study of one of the genuinely great, and in so many ways enigmatic, poets of our time, a literary biography in the best sense, informative and penetratingly interpretive. Felstiner’s fine translations of Celan’s often very difficult poetry arise from, and are worked seamlessly into, the stuff of his chronicle, and they are of immense value in their own right. A book of this kind has been long overdue: this authoritative instance of it now appears to have been well worth waiting for."—John Hollander

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Book SynopsisBringing together the Soviet historical experience and Stalin-era art, in novels, films, poems, songs, painting, photography, architecture, and advertising, this work examines Stalinism's representational strategies and demonstrates how real socialism was begotten of Socialist Realism.Trade Review"Dobrenko is a master interpreter of Socialist Realism. He explores the functionality of the Leninist-Stalinist cultural project with verve and imagination. Those who study Soviet art, literature, film, photography, history, and much else will be hard put to find a better guide. The book is a pleasure to read."—Jeffrey Brooks, author of Thank You, Comrade Stalin! Soviet Public Culture from Revolution to Cold War -- Jeffrey Brooks"Unsurpassed in its grasp of Stalinism and Stalinist culture, Dobrenko's new book makes the convincing theoretical move of turning the categories of Stalinist thought against Stalinist cultural production. Rigorous in interpretation and research, challenging and persuasive."—William Mills Todd III, Harvard University -- William Mills Todd III“This book by an internationally celebrated scholar of Soviet culture offers a uniquely rich and convincing account of how Socialist Realism was the pre-determining force in Stalinist discourse, shaping biological sciences and ‘scientific Communism’ as well as glossy magazines, official histories, narrative films, public exhibitions, and advertising. The eccentricities and paradoxes of a country where, as Dobrenko puts it, there was ‘a single need. The need to provide the spectacle of socialism,’ are everywhere on view. This fascinating study will be indispensable reading for anyone interested in Russian culture from the 1930s onwards.”—Catriona Kelly, University of Oxford -- Catriona Kelly“Evgeny Dobrenko has written the most sweeping, theoretically-informed book to-date on Socialist Realism and its centrality to the Stalinist project. He presents a chilling analysis of Socialist Realism as a discourse of repression. From photojournalism, to cinema, to biology, to advertising and Stalin’s speeches, Dobrenko shows how Socialist Realism produced socialism by aestheticizing and ‘de-realizing’ life. I have never seen a more convincing indictment of art’s centrality in Soviet terror. ”—Eric Naiman, University of California, Berkeley -- Eric Naiman

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Book SynopsisOffers fresh insights into the T S Eliot's intentions and shows us that "The Waste Land" is even stranger and more startling than we knew.Trade Review"'The most significant contribution to Eliot scholarship since the facsimile edition of the manuscripts appeared in 1971.' Ronald Schuchard, Emory University 'Rainey's research rises from original scholarship to creative criticism, entering sympathetically into the lyrical process and restoring the written fact of the poem to the reader." Jeremy Noel-Tod, Times Literary Supplement Revisiting "The Waste Land" and The Annotated Waste Land with Eliot's Contemporary Prose are the winners of the 2006 Robert Motherwell Book Award for outstanding publications in the history and criticism of modernism in the arts."

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Book SynopsisA spirited biography of Philip Roth's notorious novel, from the outrage it sparked to its impact on Roth to its legacy some forty years laterTrade Review"'Bernard Avishai has written a spirited, loving, richly insightful appreciation of Portnoy's Complaint as cultural phenomenon, generational totem, instinctual liberation, and, above all, stupendous work of art. A marvelous book for anyone who wishes to relive and to understand the thrill, scandal and triumph of Roth's comic masterpiece.' (Stephen Greenblatt) 'An affectionate, attentive, rumbustious meditation on Roth's Portnoy's Complaint, which also provides a robust, opinionated history of twentieth-century American Jewishness, sexual politics, literary criticism, psychoanalysis, skepticism and joking.' (Hermione Lee) 'How can one make a text so notorious, so unrelentingly charged, even more unique than it already is? It is to Avishai's great credit that, in many respects, he lives up to this task, not least because his prose teems with unbounded passion. He offers keen insight into a novel that one would think has exhausted further possible excavation from critics and readers alike.' (Sam Kerbel, Tablet)"

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Book Synopsis"Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane, James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, Jim Thompson, David Goodis ... these are a few of the masters of noir responsible for the great lurid paperbacks of the thirties, fort"Table of Contents* Icons on Yellow Paper * Origins of the Paperbacks * A Disposable Gallery * Mythologists of the Hardboiled * The Paperback Detective and his Discontent * Afternoon of the Fifties * The Long Morning After * The Hardboiled Era: A Checklist, 1920-1960

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Book SynopsisSuggests seven walking tours, and describes points of interest along each route related to Hemingway's life in Paris.

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Book SynopsisAt the cusp of literary and cultural studies, this wide-ranging critical anthology reevaluates Victorian culture in the light of the literature of the period and vice versa. Also, essays by eminent and emerging Victorianists offer a reassessment, explicit and implicit, of Victorian studies and its methodologies.

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Book SynopsisExplanation of References and Abbreviations - Preface - PART 1: EARLIER EDWARDIAN - Introduction - Independent Reviewers - E.M. Forster's Earlier Short Writings - The First Book of Bloomsbury - E.M. Forster's First Novel - Desmond MacCarthy at the Court Theatre - Lytton Strachey and the Prose of Empire - Virginia Woolf: Beginnings - Roger Fry and the Early Aesthetics of Bloomsbury - PART 2: LATER EDWARDIAN - Introduction - E.M. Forster's Refutation of Idealism - Desmond MacCarthy and the New Quarterly, Clive Bell and the Athenaeum - Lytton Strachey and the Spectator - E.M. Forster: Rooms and Views - Virginia Woolf and the Proper Writing of Lives - Leonard Woolf's Ceylon Writings - E.M. Forster: Ends and Means - Notes - Bibliography - IndexTrade Review'This is the second volume of a formidable enterprise, and part of a series of publications by the same author that may entitle him to the position as the leading scholar of the Bloomsbury Group...Rosenbaum has managed to write with freshness and insight about Forster's novels, no matter how much they have been analyzed before...The next volume will deal with the effect of that exhibition upon the Group's writing and much more, I am sure, of its early literary history. The work is eagerly awaited.' - Peter Stanksy, English Literature in Transition 1880-1920Table of ContentsExplanation of References and Abbreviations - Preface - PART 1: EARLIER EDWARDIAN - Introduction - Independent Reviewers - E.M. Forster's Earlier Short Writings - The First Book of Bloomsbury - E.M. Forster's First Novel - Desmond MacCarthy at the Court Theatre - Lytton Strachey and the Prose of Empire - Virginia Woolf: Beginnings - Roger Fry and the Early Aesthetics of Bloomsbury - PART 2: LATER EDWARDIAN - Introduction - E.M. Forster's Refutation of Idealism - Desmond MacCarthy and the New Quarterly, Clive Bell and the Athenaeum - Lytton Strachey and the Spectator - E.M. Forster: Rooms and Views - Virginia Woolf and the Proper Writing of Lives - Leonard Woolf's Ceylon Writings - E.M. Forster: Ends and Means - Notes - Bibliography - Index

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Book SynopsisBefore J K Rowling became the best selling author in Britain, Terry Pratchett wore that hat. With over 40 million books sold, Pratchett is an international phenomenon. Exploring the land of Disc- word, this guide includes sidebars, trivia, folklore, mythology and fables, a bio of the author Terry Pratchett and an analysis of his work.

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Book SynopsisMiner takes the first critical look at this development and offers a serious reading of five of the most famous twentieth-century women's bestsellers--Gone with the Wind, Forever Amber, Peyton Place, Valley of the Dolls, and Scruples.

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Book SynopsisThis literary critical book deals exclusively with contemporary fiction by women that focuses on aging of women. It discusses the emergence of a new fictional genre, the novel of ripening or Reifungsroman. This emerging genre about the aging heroine reconceptualizes middle and old age for women, taking it from a formerly stereotypical state of passivity and deterioration (by the hearthside) into one of adventure, growth, self-discovery, self-affirmation, and integration (on the open road). The book contains an extensive bibliography of twentieth-century popular periodical articles on aging (Canadian, American, and British); literary critical articles on aging in the fiction of Doris Lessing, Alice Adams, Paule Marshall, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Pym, May Sarton, and Margaret Laurence; as well as general literary critical works on these authors; and some general (non-literary) studies of aging, often from a feminist framework (such as Simone de Beavoir's The Coming of AgeTable of ContentsIntroduction: A New Fictional Genre--The Reifungsroman, or Fiction of Ripening Popular Journalism's Treatment of Old Age and the Aging Experience Beginning the Journey to Selfhood in Middle Age New Passions and Commitments in Young Old Age Challenging Dependency and Embracing Death Conclusion: The Aging Woman in Society, the Reifungsroman, and Literary Criticism's Role Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIntroducing readers to Kingsolver, the author devotes a chapter to her life and work showing how the two are deeply intertwined. The text subsequently analyzes each novel in terms of plot and character development, thematic content, symbolism, and the importance of place and language.Table of ContentsBarbara Kingsolver: Life and Works Politics and Genres The Bean Trees Animal Dreams Pigs in Heaven The Poisonwood Bible Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe bulk of the Companion comprises alphabetically arranged entries on Bierce's major works and characters and on historical persons and writers who figured prominently in his life and career.Table of ContentsPreface The Encyclopedia General Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis comprehensive analysis of Le Guin's work will leave readers anxious for her future endeavors.After a biography that focuses on Le Guin's interest in science fiction, this study delves into analyses of Le Guin's most well-known works, with emphasis on plot, as well as thematic and character development.Trade ReviewAs part of a series on popular and critically-acclaimed authors selected by high school teachers and librarians, this volume features the works of Portland, Oregon-based writer Ursula Le Guin. The brief biography of her upbringing by noted anthropologists helps explain why Le Guin considers her writing to transcend science fiction/fantasy. Bernardo and Murphy offer readings of a dozen of her works from The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) to Tales from Eathsea (2001), a list of her many awards, and a recent e-mail interview. * Reference & Research Book News *For those unfamiliar with Le Guin's work, it is an effective introduction. * Interzone *Susan Bernardo and Graham Murphy provide a useful, up-to-date reference work for intellectually-oriented fans, advanced high school and undergraduate students, and even graduate students and more advanced scholars in need of a thorough introduction to or a quick update on the foremost woman sf and fantasy writer today. * Science Fiction Studies *

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Book SynopsisRalph Ellison's Invisible Man is one of the most widely read works of African American literature. Included are chapters on the creation of the novel, its plot, its historical and social contexts, the themes and issues it addresses, Ellison's literary style, and the critical reception of the work.Trade ReviewUnlike other reference guides that mainly deal with plot and character development, this book . . . gives an in-depth and focused overview of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. For both educator and student, high school and up, this guide will prove invaluable as it discusses more traditional forms of rhetoric employed by Ellison and engages with contemporary theoretical arguments as well. Biographical information is included along with quotes from the author revealing his philosophy of writing-which encompasses the author's responsibility to raise social consciousness and create more than a work of art. Because Ellison alludes to race issues that stretch prior to and, in many ways, beyond his own time, historical information is presented to provide contextual awareness of past and present experiences of Black Americans. Each chapter is followed by a works cited, and a bibliography and an index ends the book. * MultiCultural Review *

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Book SynopsisA study of the literary history of the interrelated achievements of the Bloomsbury Group. Professor Rosenbaum has written an account of the ideas and people who were the early influences on the Group. He sees the modern period not as the age of 'great men', but in a new light, where original ideas about art, women and society.Table of ContentsExplanation of References and Abbreviations - Introduction - PART 1 ORIGINS - Intellectual Backgrounds - Leslie Stephen - Some Victorian Visions - PART 2 CAMBRIDGE: LITERARY EDUCATION - History and Classics at King's and Trinity - English Literary Lectures, Reading, and Essays - Modern Reading - PART 3 CAMBRIDGE: PHILOSOPHICAL EDUCATION - Philosophy and the Cambridge Apostles - Dickinson and McTaggart - Russell - Moore - PART 4 CAMBRIDGE WRITINGS - Memoirs, Apostle Papers, and other Essays - Poems, Plays, Parodies - Notes - Bibliography - Acknowledgements - Index

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Book SynopsisThis comprehensive account of the writing life of Henry James aims at providing a critical overview of all his important writings, firmly set in two contexts: that of James's practical career as a novelist in America, England, and Europe;Table of ContentsAcknowledgements - Beginnings - American and Romantic - Victorian and Realist - Crisis and Experiment - Master and Modernist - Notes - Suggestions for Further Reading - Index

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Book SynopsisGeorgian Bloomsbury completes the literary history of Old Bloomsbury that began with Victorian Bloomsbury (1987) and continued with Edwardian Bloomsbury (1994).Trade ReviewReviews of Victorian Bloomsbury 'A subtle and powerful picture of the Bloomsbury group, showing clearly what has been vague - their beginnings in the Victorian era before 'human characters changed' (as Virginia Woolf said). S.P. Rosenbaum is an unparalleled interpreter of the philosophical as well as literary tradition absorbed by this group.' - Richard Ellman 'Professor Rosenbaum has written a wonderful account of the ideas and people who were the early influences on the Bloomsbury Group... This book will be of interest not only to anyone fascinated by the Bloomsbury Group, but also to students of Woolf or Forster or Keynes or Strachey who need to know the background of these writers'. - Carolyn Heilbrun 'Rosenbaum's main purpose is to trace the ancestry and emergence of Bloomsbury's literary forms. Treating the group as a whole, he aggregates and analyses a body of information on their families and houses, on Cambridge literary and philosophical education, and on their early writings. It is a thorough and useful study.' - Raymond Williams Reviews of Edwardian Bloomsbury 'If you want to deconstruct Bloomsbury, this is not the book for you; but if you want Bloomsbury consolidated, you can't do with it ... Rosenbaum is providing an impressively thorough and reliable map of the group development and achievements.' - Hermione Lee 'What impresses is not only the plethora of texts that Rosenbaum confronts but also his combination of broad perspectives with telling detail... Edwardian Bloomsbury is a significant work, authoritative and original, whose massive scholarship will fertilize discussion for many years to come.' - Frances Spalding 'This is the second volume of a formidable enterprise, and part of a series of publications by the same author that may entitle him to the position as the leading scholar of the Bloomsbury Group.. The greatest contribution that this study makes is in its splendid discussion fo the comparatively unknown writings of Bloomsbury, the short works, mostly essays and reviews, that Bloomsbury wrote in its apprenticeship...(Georgian Bloomsbury) is eagerly awaited.' - Peter StanskyTable of ContentsExplanation of References and Abbreviations Preface Introduction Literary Post Impressionism The Art of Clive Bell's Art The Arctic Summer of E. M. Forster Lytton Strachey's Literary History Georgian Literary Journalism Virginia Woolf's First Novel Leonard Woolf's Last Novel Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis study of the English novel at mid-century looks at the work of Henry Green, Anthony Powell, Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements - Preface - The English Novel: Modernism and After - Henry Green - Anthony Powell - Graham Greene - Evelyn Waugh - Conclusion - Notes - Index

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Book SynopsisAcknowledgements Abbreviations Between the Lines: Re-reading Stevie Smith and Literary Modernism 'The Times are the Times of the Black Split Heart': Stevie Smith's Life and Work in Context The Trilogy's Take-Off in the Thirties: A Close-Cultural Reading of Novel on Yellow Paper Framing the War: The Second Two Novels of the Trilogy Between Waving and Drowning: Stevie Smith's Poems and Stories Works Cited IndexTrade Review'...[a] dazzlingly intelligent reading of Stevie Smith's work.' - Will May, The Oxonian ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations Between the Lines: Re-reading Stevie Smith and Literary Modernism 'The Times are the Times of the Black Split Heart': Stevie Smith's Life and Work in Context The Trilogy's Take-Off in the Thirties: A Close-Cultural Reading of Novel on Yellow Paper Framing the War: The Second Two Novels of the Trilogy Between Waving and Drowning: Stevie Smith's Poems and Stories Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisAcknowledgements List of Illustrations Introduction: Harold Monro 1897-1932 Inheritance Cambridge 1989-1902 Ireland 1902-1906 The Samurai 1906-1908 Pilgrimage to Freedom 1908-1909 The Mountain and the Tower 1909-1911 The Poetry Review 1912 The Poetry House Alida 1913-1914 War 1914-1916 Casualty 1916-1919 A New Start 1919-1920 Drink and Failure Racing You to Death 1921-1925 Great Russell Street 1926-1928 No Way Out 1929-1932 Legacies Appendices Sources and Notes Bibliography IndexTrade Review'The book is a 'who's who' of everyone who wandered through the corridors of Georgian, Imagist and Modern poetry...You know this is a well-written biography because you turn the pages in haste, wanting to know what happened next, and you care about the main protagonists. The book is full of details that you won't have read elsewhere. Monro has been almost forgotten, except by those who take a special interest in this brief period of 20th century letters. Dominic's book should make it less likely that future generations will forget Monro's role in promoting poetry.' - Friends of Dymoch Poets Newsletter '...absorbing...a gripping account of a man at war with himself...meticulously researched...combines clarity, compassion and an engaging dry humour.' - Sunday Times '...beautifully written...just the right amount of sympathy and insight...Hibberd's ability to establish Monro as a seminal figure...is impressive.' - Choice (USA) '...fascinating.' - Scotland on SundayTable of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Illustrations Introduction: Harold Monro 1897-1932 Inheritance Cambridge 1989-1902 Ireland 1902-1906 The Samurai 1906-1908 Pilgrimage to Freedom 1908-1909 The Mountain and the Tower 1909-1911 The Poetry Review 1912 The Poetry House Alida 1913-1914 War 1914-1916 Casualty 1916-1919 A New Start 1919-1920 Drink and Failure Racing You to Death 1921-1925 Great Russell Street 1926-1928 No Way Out 1929-1932 Legacies Appendices Sources and Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis is the first full length exploration of the relationship between Gothic fiction and Modernism in fiction and film. The contributors explore how the Gothic influences a range of writers including James Joyce, D.H.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Notes on the Contributors Introduction: Gothic Modernisms: History, Culture and Aesthetics; A.Smith & J.Wallace Hungry Ghosts and Foreign Bodies; D.Punter 'The Spectrality Effect' in Early Modernism; D.Glover 'Physical Cases: Transformations of the Supernatural in Virginia Woolf and May Sinclair; D.Seed The Ghost and the Omnibus: the Gothic Virginia Woolf; J.Wilt Strolling in the Dark: Gothic Flânerie in Djuna Barnes's Nightwood ?; A.Horner & S.Zlosnik 'Thick Within Our Hair': Djuna Barnes's Gothic Lovers; D.Tyler-Bennett 'The Stern Task of Living': Dubliners , Clerks, Money and Modernism; J.Wallace The Modernist Abominations of William Hope Hodgson; K.Hurley Vampirism, Masculinity and Degeneracy: D.H. Lawrence's Modernist Gothic; A.Smith Arctic Masks in a Castle of Ice: Gothic Vorticism and Wyndham Lewis's Self Condemned ; F.Orestano Metropolis and the Modernist Gothic; N.Morris Hollywood Gothic/Gothic Hollywood: The Example of Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard ; J.Wolfreys Index

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Book SynopsisHighlighting popular works by P.D. James, Colin Dexter, Ian Pears and Umberto Eco, among others, this subtle and intelligently written monograph examines the treatment of religion in the genre of contemporary murder mystery novels, and the implications of this phenomenon for understanding Christian thought in a post-Christian society.

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Book SynopsisSailing Alone Around the Room, by America’s Poet Laureate, Billy Collins, contains both new poems and a generous gathering from his earlier collections The Apple That Astonished Paris, Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning, and Picnic, Lightning. These poems show Collins at his best, performing the kinds of distinctive poetic maneuvers that have delighted and fascinated so many readers. They may begin in curiosity and end in grief; they may start with irony and end with lyric transformation; they may, and often do, begin with the everyday and end in the infinite. Possessed of a unique voice that is at once plain and melodic, Billy Collins has managed to enrich American poetry while greatly widening the circle of its audience.

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Book SynopsisProbably de Beauvoir's strangest and most compelling novel, this is the captivating story of a beautiful young actress who revives a downcast stranger at a French resort.

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Book Synopsis[R]eads like a novel, filled with strongly drawn characters and a wealth of lively detail.... The book offers as much insight into the creative process as it does into this crucial period of our history.Lee SmithTrade Review"Brilliant. . . . Carefully researched and masterfully constructed." -- Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinal

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Book SynopsisA living, breathing biography that reads like a good novelThe stuff of which Pulitzer prizes are made. Library Journal (starred review)Trade Review"More than any other biographers, Reynolds provides readers with a sense of what the 'becoming' Hemingway was like and how he used his life to create his art." -- Publishers Weekly

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