The New York Public Library Literature Companion
Edited by Anne Skillion
"No
other modern literary companion comes close to matching this book's remarkable
breadth."
--
Library Journal
"The New York Public Library Literature Companion is not only scholarly
and wide-ranging, it's a good read and addictive."
--Frank McCourt, author of
Angela's Ashes and
'Tis
"This is the guide you should memorize before meeting your date at The New
York Public Library's lions. You will be quick and amusing, not in the least
pedantic, your date will laugh, and the lions have seen too much to eat you."
--Andrei Codrescu, author of
Messiah
"The New York Public Library Literature Companion is such a good idea,
and so artfully done, that I wonder how I have been able to do without it on
my desk all these years!"
--Michael Korda, author of
Another Life
"This book could save your sanity."
--Spokane (Wash.)
Spokesman Review
Pick up
The New York Public Library Literature Companion to check the
dates of Marcel Proust's
Remembrance of Things Past or to find out how
James Joyce's
Ulysses changed U.S. obscenity laws, and hours later you
may find yourself absorbed in the imaginary worlds of Camelot and the Matrix
or sidetracked by the fascinating history of
The New Yorker. Designed
to satisfy the curious browser as well as the serious researcher, this exciting
new resource offers the most up-to-date information on literature available
in English from around the world, from the invention of writing to the year
2000.
Interwoven throughout the more than 2,500 succinct and insightful entries on
Creators, Works of Literature, and Literary Facts and Resources are the fascinating
facts and quirky biographical details that make literature come alive. You will
discover, for instance, that Walt Whitman was fired from his government job
after his personal copy of
Leaves of Grass was discovered in his desk
by the Secretary of the Interior, who was scandalized by it; that James Baldwin
remembered listening to blues singer Bessie Smith ("playing her till I fell
asleep") when he was writing his first book; and that a publisher turned down
the serialization rights to
Gone with the Wind, saying, "Who needs the
Civil War now--who cares?"
Looking for information about book burning or how many Nobel laureates have
come from Japan? You'll find it here. Trying to remember the name of that movie
based on a favorite book? Read the "Variations" section--you'll be amazed at
the pervasive presence of great literature in today's entertainment. From Aristophanes
to Allende, from Bergson to Bloom, the biographical entries will inform you
about the men and women who have shaped--and are shaping--the literary world.
Look into "Works of Literature" to discover the significance of
Beowulf,
The Fountainhead, Dr. Zhivago, and nearly 1,000 other titles. Check the
"Dictionary of Literature" to find out what the critics and theorists are talking
about. And if you wish to delve even deeper, "Websites for Literature" and "Literary
Factbooks and Handbooks" are just two of the bibliographies that will point
you in the right direction.
Among the special sections, you will find:
Characters. The perfect place to look up "Ichabod
Crane," "Ophelia," or "Captain Ahab."
Other Influential Figures. Devoted to critics,
biographers, thinkers, and "powers behind the scenes," such as editors, publishers,
translators, and television commentators. Entries include Edmund Wilson, Noah
Webster, Walter Kerr, Janet Flanner, Maxwell Perkins, Harold Ross, Oprah Winfrey,
and others not often found in literary reference books.
Influential Literary Periodicals. Essential information
on all the major groundbreaking journals from
The Athenaeum and
The
Atlantic Monthly to
The New Yorker and
Harper's Magazine.
Literary Reference Sources. Divided by period,
country, genre, ethnicity, and gender; here you can find additional resources
on anything from ghost literature to the literature of Brazil. Additional bibliographies
list quotation books, style manuals, and guides to plots, places, and characters;
and biographical reference sources for literature and the best literary biographies.
Dictionary of Literature. Includes up-to-the-minute
coverage of literary terms, including widely used, but often misunderstood,
academic jargon, which this book clarifies for the general reader. This is also
the place to find a perfect example of an allegory or satire, or a description
of the surrealist movement.
Variations. A special bonus for today's reader,
this section includes film, television, and theatrical versions of great literary
works along with dates, director, and casts.
Chronology of World Literature. Highlighting important
events from the invention of the first system of writing in 3500 BC to the changes
in publishing and bookselling wrought by the Internet.
Websites for Literature. Where to discover everything
literary on the web including the best navigators, "virtual reference desks,"
best sources for literary journalism and academic criticism, print magazine
websites and e-zines, organizations and booksellers, and editions of works of
literature.
2001, 772 pages, hardcover, $40.00, ISBN 0-684-86890-3
Published by The Free Press
Book-of-the-Month Club, Alternate Selection
B. Bergeron, 12/01
