This comprehensive guide covers major events in American literature, ranging from the 18th century to the 20th century. --Provided by publisher.

"Mark Twain's hilarity and irreverence shine through in this impeccably chosen collection."--

"This is the only authoritative text of this late novel. It reproduces the manuscript which Mark Twain wrote last, and the only one he finished or called the "The Mysterious Stranger." Albert Bigelow Paine's edition of the same name has been shown to be a textual fraud."--

"Kantor takes readers on a fascinating tour through great literature in all its politically incorrect glory. She includes a syllabus and a guide to the English literature education most people were denied in school."--Amazon.com.

No other book has captured the themes of adolescent longing and confusion quite like J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye (1951)-and no other reference tool can help you further explore this literary classic quite like our newest 3-panel (6-page) guide. All of the book's important themes, characters, and events are listed and discussed at length; in addition, an easy-to-use format allows you to quickly refer back to the original text when necessary....

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often considered to be Mark Twain's masterpiece among his many novels. With that said, our jam-packed, comprehensive 3-panel (6 page) guide enables students and literary scholars alike to delve more into the world of Huck, Jim, Tom Sawyer and Twain's other colorful characters. Chapter summaries and character descriptions, as well as examinations of the many themes running throughout the book, are provided in an...

The first examination of Nelson Algren in over 25 years, Algren is the definitive biography of one of the best-known writers of mid-20th-century America. Journalist Mary Wisniewski interviewed dozens of Algren's inner circle, including photographer Art Shay and the late Studs Terkel, and examined Algren's unpublished writing and correspondence, including hundreds of letters he received from lover Simone de Beauvoir, to craft an account as entertaining...

"Perhaps the most defining characteristic of American literature composed after World War II is the rejection of conventional form and structure with its increasingly uninhibited and experimental style. Embracing works from previously marginalized groups like African Americans and women and ushering in new genres, contemporary American literature has progressively begun to mirror the American population in diversity and versatility. In this volume,...

An indispensable collection of the work of one of the 19th century's most compelling and original poets, this comprehensive edition contains all of Edgar Allan Poe's poetry and three most important essays. Reissued to coincide with the release of a major Hollywood film of the same title, it exposes Poe's diversity and genius, from breathtakingly seductive beauty of "To Helen" to the claustrophobic horror of "The Raven." Unique in that it features...