Chaucer A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Works

An encyclopedic guide to the fourteenth-century poet's life and works examines Chaucer's language, historical events, and literary influences in his work

YA-This remarkable series continues with two authors prominent in the high school curriculum. Students will be comfortable with the easy-to-use format and appreciate the readable articles. Information is provided on the writers' lives and the periods in which they lived. Explanations of allusions, details from the works, and the characters are extensive. Literary information such as form or language is clarified. This is especially strong in Chaucer, which includes the pronunciation of the Middle English. Plot summaries are detailed. Chaucer's lesser-known works and Hemingway's journalistic writing and poetry are included. The bibliography is more extensive in Hemingway, and Web sites are given only in Chaucer. All libraries will benefit from these extensive resources.
Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This latest title in Facts on File's "Literary A to Z" series provides a solidly researched summary of current information on Chaucer, his life, his works, and the era in which he lived. Entries include all of Chaucer's characters or people mentioned in his writing; historical background on people, places, and events; synopses of all his works; and summaries of the major critical approaches to his writing. Appendixes provide a list of all Chaucer's known works, a chronology of his life, and a short bibliography listing basic works for further reading. There is no current alternative providing such convenient access to this much material. Rossignol (English, Univ. of Iowa) packs a generous amount of information into the text; however, additional cross references and some spell checking would help users find information. For example, there are no entries for or cross references to "Middle English" or the "Seven Deadly Sins"; information on these subjects can be found under "Chaucer's Language" and "Parson's Tale, The." In the proof, the entry for bubonic plague is listed as "Bumbic Plague." Otherwise, the text is written clearly and will be useful to readers unfamiliar with Chaucer's work. Recommended for public and academic libraries.AShana C. Fair, Ohio Univ., Zanesville
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.