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Reviews of significant fiction and nonfiction published in 1988. Provides coverage for works that are likely to be of particular interest to the general reader, that reflect the publishing trends of a given year, and that will stand up to the test of time.
Magill's Literary Annual, 2003, is the fiftieth publication in a series that began in 1954. The philosophy behind the annual has been to evaluate critically 200 major examples of serious literature published during the previous year. Our focus is to provide coverage for works that are likely to be of particular interest to the general reader, that reflect the publishing trends of a given year, that add to careers of authors being taught and researched in literature programs, and that will stand the test of time. By filtering the thousands of books published each year down to two hundred notable titles, the editors have provided the busy librarian with an excellent reader's advisory tool and patrons with fodder for book discussion groups and a guide for selection. The essay-reviews in the Annual also provide a more academic, ""reference"" review of a work than is typically found in newspapers and other periodical sources. This year's works are drawn from such categories as anthropology, autobiography, biography, current affairs, diaries, economics, environment, essays, history, language, literary criticism, medicine, memoirs, nature, philosophy, poetry, psychology, religion, science, short fiction, sociology, technology, travel, and women's issues. The articles are arranged alphabetically by book title. A complete list of included titles can be found at the beginning of volume 1. Each 2,000-word article begins with a block of top matter that indicates the title, author, publisher, and price of the work. When possible, the year of the author's birth is also provided. The top matter also includes the number of pages of the book, the type of work, and, when appropriate, the time period and locale represented in the text. Next comes a capsule description of the work. When pertinent, a list of principal characters or personages, with brief descriptions, introduces the review. These original essay-reviews analyze intent and relative success of the author and the work under discussion. To assist the reader further, the articles are supplemented by a list of additional reviews for further study. Every essay includes a brief biography of the author or authors, and thumbnail photographs of the book covers and authors are included as available. At the end of volume 2 are four cumulative indexes listing works covered from the years 1977 to 2003: an index of Biographical Works by Subject, a Category Index, a Title Index, and an Author Index. The index of Biographical Works by Subject is arranged by subject rather than by author or title.
Reviews of significant fiction and nonfiction published in 1992. Provides coverage for works that are likely to be of particular interest to the general reader, that reflect the publishing trends of a given year, and that will stand up to the test of time.
Peter Carey is one of Australia's finest creative writers, much admired by both literary critics and a worldwide reading public. While academia has been quick to see his fictions as exemplars of postcolonial and postmodern writing strategies, his general readership has been captivated by his deadpan sense of humour, his quirky characters, the outlandish settings and the grotesqueries of his intricate plots. After three decades of prolific writing and multiple award-winning, Carey stands out in the world of Australian letters as designated heir to Patrick White. Fabulating Beauty pays tribute to Carey's literary achievement. It brings together the voices of many of the most renowned Carey critics in twenty essays (sixteen commissioned especially for this volume), an interview with the author, as well as the most extensive bibliography of Carey criticism to date. The studies represent a wide range of current perspectives on the writer's fictions. Contributors focus on issues as diverse as the writer's biography; his use of architectural metaphors; his interrogation of narrative structures such as myths and cultural master-plots; intertextual strategies; concepts of sacredness and references to the Christian tradition; and his strategies of rewriting history. Amidst predictions of the imminent death of 'postist' theory, the essays all attest to the ongoing relevance of the critical parameters framed by postmodernism and postcolonialism.
Provides up-to-date profiles on the careers of leading and emerging poets.
The purpose of this dissertation is to introduce a general reading audience to the major themes found in the fiction of Richard Powers with an emphasis on his use of science. For Powers, science is something more than the accumulation of technical data and the proliferation of theories developed to explain physical phenomena. It is an evolving body of knowledge which has important insights to contribute into the conditions which ground human experience The close and often detailed discussions of contemporary issues in science which Powers incorporates into his fiction indicate the extent to which he sees science as an inseparable component in any attempt to understand the complexities of human experience. The common ground Powers uses to link the interests of science and those of fiction into a balanced, if not always harmonious, pursuit of truth is wonder. The limitations placed on science during this century do not undermine the ability of science to influence what we can know. Nor do these limitations diminish the ability of science to inspire wonder. Quite the opposite. For Powers the true wonder of the human intellect rests in our remarkable ability to balance observation and interpretation. What he discovers again and again in his fiction is that science, like literature, is a product of the human imagination, a way to mediate between the world and our perceptions of it. The recognition that science is a cultural practice--a body of knowledge thoroughly imbued with the practices and prejudices of its historical surroundings--is a necessary first step in mending the rift separating science and literature, head and heart. The greatest insight of twentieth century science may just be the recognition that there are other ways to access the truth. Richard Powers skillful weaving of science and art is a testament that literature offers a unique vantage point from which we might learn something of value about ourselves and the world we inhabit.
A historian who lived the kind of history he wrote, Francis Parkman is a major—and controversial—figure in American historiography. His narrative style, while popular with readers wanting a "good story," has raised many questions with professional historians. Was Parkman writing history or historical fiction? Did he color historical figures with his own heroic self-image? Was his objectivity compromised by his "unbending, conservative, Brahmin" values? These are some of the many issues that Wilbur Jacobs treats in this thought-provoking study. Jacobs carefully considers the "apprenticeship" of Francis Parkman, first spent in facing the rigors of the Oregon Trail and later in struggling to write his histories despite a mysterious, frequently incapacitating illness. He shows how these events allowed Parkman to create a heroic self-image, which impelled his desire for fame as a historian and influenced his treatment of both the "noble" and the "savage" characters of his histories. In addition to assessing the influence of Parkman's development and personality on his histories, Jacobs comments on Parkman's relationship to basic social and cultural issues of the nineteenth century. These include the slavery question, Native American issues, expansion of the suffrage to new groups, including women, and anti-Catholicism.
Jane Austen wrote for a Regency-period audience and could never have predicted the lasting success of her original works. The slew of variations and adaptations of Austen's works in both film and novels has grown into an industry with a fan base clamoring for more. This collection fills a gap in Austen scholarship, examining universal and contemporary themes in the original literature and how the works have been adapted since 2000 onward. Essays explore Austen retellings with a New York City setting, Jane Austen and Islamic culture, and even a plot with zombies. This volume demonstrates Jane Austen's enduring talent and relevancy.
The short story is one of the most difficult types of prose to write and one of the most pleasurable to read. From Boccaccio's Decameron to The Collected Stories of Reynolds Price, Charles May gives us an understanding of the history and structure of this demanding form of fiction. Beginning with a general history of the genre, he moves on to focus on the nineteenth-century when the modern short story began to come into focus. From there he moves on to later nineteenth-century realism and early twentieth-century formalism and finally to the modern renaissance of the form that shows no signs of abating. A chronology of significant events, works and figures from the genre's history, notes and references and an extensive bibliographic essay with recommended reading round out the volume.
In the mid-1980s, Amy Tan was a successful but unhappy corporate speechwriter. By the end of the decade, she was perched firmly atop the best-seller lists with The Joy Luck Club, with more popular novels to follow. Tan's work--once pigeonholed as ethnic literature--resonates with universal themes that cross cultural and ideological boundaries, and prove wildly successful with readers of all stripes. Tender, sincere, complex, honest and uncompromising in its portrayal of Chinese culture and its affect on women, Amy Tan's work earned her both praise and excoriation from critics, adoration from fans, and a place as one of America's most notable modern writers. This reference work introduces and summarizes Amy Tan's life, her body of literature, and her characters. The main text is comprised of entries covering characters, dates, historical figures and events, allusions, motifs and themes from her works. The entries combine critical insights with generous citations from primary and secondary sources. Each entry concludes with a selected bibliography. There is also a chronology of Tan's family history and her life. Appendices provide an overlapping timeline of historical and fictional events in Tan's work; a glossary of foreign terms found in her writing; and a list of related writing and research topics. An extensive bibliography and a comprehensive index accompany the text.