BLACKWELL COMPANIONS TO LITERATURE AND CULTURE

From the early Sumerian clay tablet through to the emergence of the electronic text, this Companion provides a continuous and coherent account of the history of the book. --from publisher description.

"A Companion to Tragedy is an essential resource for anyone interested in exploring the role of tragedy in Western history and culture. The Companion is based on the premise that the genre of tragedy is inseparable from history, insofar as it was born in the Greek city-state, and its life has been intertwined with the fate of dynasties, revolutions, and crises of social change. At the same time, this historical approach is complemented by consideration of philosophical and religious readings of tragedy."--Jacket.

"The question is not whether Shakespeare studies needs feminism, but whether feminism needs Shakespeare. The all-women team of contributors to A Feminist Companion to Shakespeare argues that not only is Shakespeare important for women, his works are specifically important for feminism.". "The collected essays address issues vital to feminist inquiry such as race, sexuality, the body, queer politics, and the advent of capitalism, but also appropriate ground that has hitherto been regarded as terrain hostile to feminism, such as textual editing and theater history."--BOOK JACKET.

"Through a wide-ranging series of essays and readings, A Companion to Twentieth-Century United States Fiction presents an overview of fiction published in the United States since the conclusion of World War I. These thought-provoking essays cover a diverse cross-section of novelists from the period: from canonical literary figures, such as Hemingway and Faulkner, to popular contemporary fiction writers, such as Amy Tan and Alice Walker, as well as critical overviews of various literary genres, such as crime and "hard-boiled" fiction, along with coverage of the ethnic and cultural traditions that continue to permeate U.S. fiction. A Companion to Twentieth-Century United States Fiction is an accessible and invaluable entree into the fertile period that cemented America's literary reputation throughout the world."--Jacket.