Randall Kenan is an American author best known for his novel A Visitation of Spirits and his collection of stories Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circ
Recent book-length studies of Thoreau have focused either on his place in the history of the natural sciences or have applied political principles to his works. None, however, has fully addressed what
This book looks past the frequently discussed autobiographical nature of John Updike's fiction to consider the role in Updike's work of the most powerful and peculiar human faculty: the imagination. M
Recent scholarship has inspired growing interest in the later work of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and a recognition that the conventional view of an aging Emerson, distant from public matters and
Polley (American literature and culture, Kong Kong Baptist U.) explains in his introductory chapter (titled "Ends and Odds") that "American culture obsesses over public mediations of justice. American
Booker examines the work of American playwrights Lillian Hellman and August Wilson. Although different and seemingly unconnected, both dramatists rewrite history to reflect their political activism wh
This study examines the Beat Movement's strong desire for a reconnection with nature. Although each took a different path in pursuing this goal, the writers considered here sought a new and closer re
The blues aesthetic as formulated by Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray holds that the African-American vernacular tradition, with blues music at its core, has had an unparalleled impact on the whole of
Folks (literature, Doshisha U., Japan) explores the relationship between literature and contemporary ethical problems, focusing on southern US and African American writers, his special interest. Deplo
This book looks at the more recent works of fiction by Stephen King as well as an examination of his nonfiction book On Writing published in 2000. Works discussed in this volume include Duma Key, The
This book looks at authors and their works during one of the most tumultuous decades of the twentieth century, focusing on works that resonated with readers. A sweeping social, literary, and cultural
This book examines exaggerated masculinities in select novels by James Baldwin, Cormac McCarthy, and Toni Morrison. Defined by violence, racism, sexism, and homophobia that originated on the American
Hussman (emeritus, English, Wright State U.) in essence catalogs all of the desire and disillusion found in the writings of leaders of American fiction since 1890. Included are Frank Norris, Kate Chop
This book looks at the work of acclaimed author Junot Díaz, closely examining the linguistic, popular culture, and literary references that are woven throughout his work, including the short stories a
The decade of the 1960s has come to occupy a uniquely seductive place in both the popular and the historical imagination. While few might disagree that it was a transformative period, the United States remains divided on the question of whether the changes that occurred were for the better or for the worse. Some see it as a decade when people became more free; others as a time when people became more lost. American Literature in Transition, 1960–1970 provides the latest scholarship on this time of fateful turning as seen through the eyes of writers as various as Toni Morrison, Gary Snyder, Michael Herr, Amiri Baraka, Joan Didion, Louis Chu, John Rechy, and Gwendolyn Brooks. This collection of essays by twenty-five scholars offers analysis and explication of the culture wars surrounding the period, and explores the enduring testimonies left behind by its literature.
"Howard Fast makes superb use of his material. ... Aside from its social and historical implications, Freedom Road is a high-geared story, told with that peculiar dramatic intensity of which
