Survey of Contemporary Literature, Volume 1: A-Bey (Revised and Enlarged Edition) - Hardcover

Frank N. Magill

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0893560510 ISBN 13: 9780893560515

Publisher: Salem Press, 1977

Synopsis

***Volume 1 of 12 Only*** The new "Survey of Contemporary Literature" has several purposes: to provide a measure of literary criticism and content from many of the outstanding contemporary books published in the United States since 1954; to record the development of our literary heritage-in-the-making; to delineate the growth of artistic talent; to provide the student with an overview of contemporary literature including background commentary for each of 2300 works; and to provide the busy librarian with more than 3000 selected sources of literary criticism concerning key works, a service designed to guide students and general readers toward a better understanding of a book and its author. Looking back over the 22 years that the annuals have been published, it is interesting to note that fiction accounts for less than half of the 2300 titles included. An actual count of the various categories shows 1057 works of fiction; 410 biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, diaries, and letters; 253 poetry collections; 211 works of history; 82 dramas; 69 volumes of essays and literary criticism; and 218 works dealing with current affairs and miscellaneous categories. Through the years there was no conscious design in the ratio of selections; the averages simply fell this way. For example, fiction accounts for about 46% of all the titles, yet the low was a mere 29% one year, the high 57%. Poetry fluctuated sharply as the current affairs, the latter seeming, in retrospect, to reflect the varying anxieties of the times. This particular volume contains commentaries on works such as "An Act of Love", by Ira Wolfert; "Against Our Will" by Susan Brownmiller; "the Alligator Bride" by Donald Hall; "Arabian Sands", by Wilfred Thesiger; "Band of Angels", by Robert Penn Warren; "The Bay of Noon" by Shirley Hazzard; and "Benjamin Franklin: A Biography in His Own Words" by Benjamin Franklin.

Edition details

• Publisher: Salem Press
• Publication date: 1977
• ISBN 10: 0893560510
• ISBN 13: 9780893560515
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 688