Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games ─ Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy

Pharr (English, Florida Southern College) and Clark, who writes about women's issues in the classroom and is pursuing graduate work in humanities and cultural studies, compile 21 essays on the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and its ideas, characters, and themes. English, literature, and women's studies scholars working in the US and UK use theories such as historicism, postmodernism, feminism, humanism, cultural studies, political studies, queer theory, and media studies to examine the trilogy's relationship to crisis economics and political engagement, the misuse of political power, and how history is always political; how the trilogy reflects American culture, such as in mirroring real-world artificiality, the use of an Appalachian community as the setting, and food and discontent; issues of ethics, aesthetics, and identity, including decision making, spirituality, reality television, monstrosity, and gender; the body, voyeurism, and electronic surveillance; and related works, such as Shakespeare's second Henriad, Robert Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars, Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, the Twilight series, and Harry Potter. The volume is aimed at students and scholars. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Mary F. Pharr is a professor emeritus of English at Florida Southern College. She lives in Lakeland, Florida. Leisa A. Clark has published on women’s issues in the classroom and on Xena: Warrior Princess. She lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. Donald E. Palumbo is a professor of English at East Carolina University. He lives in Greenville, North Carolina. C.W. Sullivan III is Distinguished Professor of arts and sciences at East Carolina University and a full member of the Welsh Academy. He is the author of numerous books and the on-line journal Celtic Cultural Studies.