American Ethnic Writers

The 2000 edition of this reference for high school and undergraduate students was in two volumes and had less than half the number of pages and about one-third fewer profiles. This three-volume revised edition presents information on 225 "ethnic" writers of the United States, by which the editors apparently mean not lily-white, as there are no, say, Irish American or Lithuanian American writers included. Selected for their relevance to literature curriculums around the country, those profiled comprise 103 African Americans, 5 Caribbean Americans, 1 Chilean American, 14 Chinese Americans, 7 Cuban Americans, 1 Dominican American, 4 Filipino Americans, 4 Japanese Americans, 31 Jewish Americans, 1 Korean American, 24 Mexican Americans, 20 Native Americans, 2 Peruvian Americans, 12 Puerto Ricans, 6 South and Southeast Asian Americans, 1 Spanish American, and 1 Vietnamese American. For each, information is provide on the writer's birth and death (if deceased) date and place, along with a summary description of the writer's significance and a biographical sketch, followed by an analytical essay (up to 10 pages long) of the author's core novels, plays, short stories, poems, or other works; 710 core works are discussed in all. Each entry also includes a "suggested readings" section for further study. The third volume includes a general bibliography and a list of web resources as well as indexing by author, ethnic identity, and titles (by ethnic identity, genre, and in alphabetical order). Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)