Encyclopedia of American Literature - Hardcover

Imbarrato, Susan Clair

9780816064762: Encyclopedia of American Literature

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0816064768 ISBN 13: 9780816064762

Publisher: Facts on File, 2008

Susan Clair Imbarrato, Carol Berkin, Brett Barney, Lisa Paddock, Matthew J. Bruccoli, George Parker Anderson, Judith S. Baughman, Carl Rollyson, and Marshall Boswell

Advisory Board:
Emory Elliott, University of California, Irvine; Wendy Martin, Harvey Mudd Graduate College; Sandra Adell, University of Wisconsin; Matthew J. Bruccoli, University of South Carolina; Richard Layman, Bruccoli Clark Layman Publishers and Manly, Inc.; and Park Bucker, University of South Carolina–Sumter

Praise for the previous edition:
Booklist/RBB "Editors' Choice Reference Source, 2002"

"...an excellent source for students...and its chronological arrangement offers a different slant. Recommended..." Booklist

"The articles are well-written and provide readers with a clear understanding of the topic. There is an excellent set index and an alphabetical list of entries in each book." School Library Journal

"The writing is clear and direct, and entries are cross-referenced...useful..." Choice

An Extensive Reference That Spans the Entire Scope of American Literature

A thoroughly expanded and revised edition of the award-winning set, Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition is an extensive reference work that spans the entire scope of American literature, from the colonial period to the present. Now in four chronological volumes, this comprehensive encyclopedia includes entries on writers, works, literary movements, and other topics that high school students and undergraduates are likely to encounter.

Four Volumes and More Than 1,000 New Entries, Illustrations, and Study Guide Sections

This major update boasts one new volume, approximately 1,000 new entries, more than 300 new black-and-white illustrations, more than 100 new study guide sections on major authors, and more. The majority of the new entries are on new writers and on important works of literature, with a particular emphasis on those most read by high school and college students. In addition, existing entries have been expanded and revised to reflect the latest scholarship. Bibliographies have been expanded and updated, and epigraphs have been added to the most important author entries.

Regionally and culturally inclusive, entries on writers describe key life events, provide thumbnail descriptions of and critical reactions to their works, and discuss the writer's significance in the literary period. Also included are bibliographies listing key critical and biographical resources, an index for each volume, and a general list of entries for the entire set. A chronology in each volume puts the literature of the period in context.

Volume I: Settlement to the New Republic, 1607–1815
Explores America s literary beginnings and the connections between early American history and the nation s emerging literary tradition covering the Puritans and their Bay Psalm Book, the Federalists and the United States Constitution, Benjamin Franklin, Phillis Wheatley, and more.

Volume II: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895
Discusses the writers, works, genres, literary movements, and related historical events of 19th-century America, from the romanticism of Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Ralph Waldo Emerson to the realism of Mark Twain, Henry James, and William Dean Howells.

Volume III: Into the Modern, 1896–1945
Defines the evolution of a new American sensibility and brings the modern literary world alive, with entries on Frank Norris; Stephen Crane; Booker T. Washington; F. Scott Fitzgerald; Zora Neale Hurston;The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains; Absalom, Absalom!; and The Waste Land.

Volume IV: The Contemporary World, 1946 to the Present
Examines the emergence of new writers and voices and describes the evolving movements that encompass today s literary history covering Deconstruction, the Beats, Toni Morrison s The Bluest Eye, gay and lesbian literature, New Journalism, science fiction and fantasy, and more.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From Booklist:

This is a thorough revision of Facts On File’s three-volume set of the same title published in 2002. Volumes in the first edition covered the years 1607–1814, 1815–1914, and 1915 to the present. The revised edition’s four volumes cover the years 1607–1815, 1816–1895, 1896–1945, and 1946 to the present. Main entries for writers occur in the volume chronologically appropriate to the publication of their first major work. A broad view of American literature is taken throughout, especially in volume 1, which includes entries on pre-1607 explorers and writers including Columbus and Cabeza de Vaca as well as the seventeenth-century Mexican poet and playwright Sor Juana In�s de la Cruz. There are approximately 1,000 new entries and “more than 300 new black-and-white illustrations” as well as revisions and additions to existing entries, according to the publisher’s press release. “The majority of the new entries are on works of literature, with a particular emphasis on those most read by high-school and college students,” it adds. Entries cover writers; major works, movements, periods, genres, and styles; periodicals and publishers; and other topics (for example, The Center for Editions of American Authors,PEN/Faulkner Award,Vietnam War). Entries range from a paragraph to, for major authors, several pages. The great majority of entries conclude with a list of sources. A minority of author entries includes a list of works, with publishers and first publication dates. Most author entries begin with a quotation. Entries on the most important writers—those most likely to be studied in high schools and universities—conclude with a guide to studying the writer’s works. A highlight is the frequent inclusion of book covers, photographic and other portraits, manuscript pages, and other illustrations. Each volume has a selected bibliography and index to that volume as well as a cumulative list of entries. Volume 4 also has a cumulative index. With entries that are well written and well researched throughout, the encyclopedia is recommended for high-school, public, and academic libraries. The four-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature (2004) achieves depth of coverage on the core authors but has only 350 essays. Well-regarded one-volume alternatives, although not as up-to-date, include Ben�t’s Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature (4th ed., 1996) and The Oxford Companion to American Literature (6th ed., 1995). --Craig Bunch

From School Library Journal:

Grade 9 Up—This set has grown since the 2002 edition from three to four volumes and has gained 1000 new entries spanning the years from 1607 to 2007. Volumes are divided chronologically (1607-1815; 1816–1895; 1896–1945; 1946 to the Present) and then alphabetically and mainly cover authors and works, but also discuss genres, movements, and events. Updates to existing entries reflect new scholarship. A particularly useful addition is the expansion of entries about major authors. The formerly short summary of a writer's contributions, canonical significance, and common themes has been augmented to include a list of principal works and a study guide that outlines existing scholarship, focusing heavily on entire volumes of criticism, but also periodically referencing important journals or Web sites. Additional black-and-white illustrations and photographs further enhance the text. Each volume includes an excellent individual index (the last volume also offers a cumulative index) and an alphabetical set entry list. The significant revisions and additions merit purchase of this useful work for any library in need of support for American literature courses.—Jill Heritage Maza, Greenwich High School, CT
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