The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English [Hardcover]

Dominic Head (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521831792 | ISBN-13: 978-0521831796 | Publication Date: February 20, 2006 | Edition: 3

This illustrated and fully updated third edition is the most authoritative and international survey of world literature in English available. Covering everything from Old English to contemporary writing from all over the English-speaking world, the new edition has been brought completely up to date with more than 280 new author entries, most of which are for living authors. The general reader will find the volume a fascinating reference to browse through and to discover many new writers and works, while students will find it an invaluable resource for daily use. Previous Edition (1994) 0-521-44086-6

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Now in its third edition, this reliable guide continues to steer the reader through a multicultural world of literature written in English. Many new authors have been added, and articles on literary genres, terms, and themes have been expanded accordingly. The scope of material covered is broad and extends to the literature of the United Kingdom and well beyond: Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, India, New Zealand, and the U.S. are all well represented. The closest competitor, The Oxford Companion to English Literature (2000), is now six years old, and its coverage is not quite as wide. A spot-check of both sources showed that the Cambridge Guide includes the following writers omitted by Oxford: Octavia Butler, Horton Foote, Mem Fox, Sonya Hartnett, David Henry Hwang, Bharati Mukherjee, Richard Nelson, Suzan-Lori Parks, J. K. Rowling, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Ntozake Shange, Zadie Smith, Amy Tan, and August Wilson.

Literary terms are explained, literary movements are summarized, and literary magazines are sketched in unsigned entries ranging in length from a few lines to a few paragraphs or more. Illustrations include a number of Jonathan Wateridge's caricatures of literary figures familiar to readers of the Times Literary Supplement. With its broad coverage, clearly written and accessible text, and relatively modest price, this is a must purchase for most reference collections. Carolyn Mulac
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"This edition shows evidence of substantial changes. In the A's alone, there are at least 12 new entries...provides relatively current coverage with a multicultural view. It is recommended for most libraries."
-Booklist

"This excellent volume is as essential a resource for the historian or social scientist as it is for the student of American literature."
-American Reference Books Annual

"...a comprehensive single-volume examination which should prove a reference standard in any college-level library...A highly recommended, basic reference."
-The Midwest Book Review

"Coverage of contemporary African, Indian, and Australian literature is particularly commendable."
-Choice

"...A useful ready-reference tool for finding such information as birth and death dates and nationalities of authors, titles and summaries of major works, or definitions of literary terms or genres."
-School Library Journal

"The remarkable breadth of coverage makes Cambridge Guide a valuable complement to those literary dictionaries confined to a single nation literature."
-MLA: Literary Research Guide

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1275 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 3 edition (February 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521831792
• ISBN-13: 978-0521831796
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.2 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,181,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Agatha Christie Meets Charles Dickens, November 29, 2002

By 

Robert Derenthal "bucherwurm" (California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (Hardcover)

Those two authors share space in this magnificent reference volume on English Literature. The sturdy, oversized Guide presents over one thousand pages of information on authors, novels, poetry, drama, and literary terms. There are interesting biographies of prominent writers and obscure ones, from Mrs. Humphrey Ward to William Faulkner.

Good plot summaries are provided for a wide range of novels. If you are a fan of Anthony Trollope, you will find no less than twenty five of his books discussed. You have to be careful, however, if you are reading the plot of a book in order to decided whether or not you want to read it - the ending is always given away. The Cambridge Guide explores many literary terms: Meter; the Bloomsbury Group; positivism; and post-structuralism. There are also entries on Literary Journals - yes, the New York Review of Books is here as well as Granta.

The Cambridge Guide is written for the average layman and avoids academic jargon. I decided to try the entry on "deconstruction" as the extreme test of explaining difficult concepts. It's hard to say: either they failed the test, or I failed it.

This book has become one of my prized possessions, and I would have been willing to buy it at twice the price charged.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for teaching or taking college courses., May 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (Hardcover)

The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English provides a wide array of supplementary reading material to accompany lecture notes or for students to grasp overall concepts of a particular work, author, or literary movement.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An impressive reference book, August 10, 2007

By 

Pool Enthusiast (I am on the front porch reading The New York Times.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (Hardcover)

Since I am the first to review this book, it is important that I let you know just how much information is in here.

Writers - poets, novelists, playwrights, theologians, philosophers, economists, naturalists, scientists, essayists, critics, and historians

Individual plays, poems, novels, and other works

Literary groups or schools - I.E. the Lake Poets, the Beats, the Movement, and the Black Mountain School

Wider literary movements - I.E. neoclassicism, Romanticism, modernism, and post modernism

Critical schools or movements - I.E. the New Criticism, structuralism, post structuralism, deconstruction, and ethical criticism

Literary genres - I.E. comedy, and tragedy, fable, farce and melodrama

Poetic forms and sub-genres of drama and fiction - I.E. acrostic, the elegy, the revenge tragedy, and the Gothic novel

Critical terms - I.E. metaphor, symbol, dialogism, intertextuality, and unreliable narrator

Rhetorical terms - I.E. anaphora, bathos, chiasmus, synecdoche, and zeugma

Theaters and theater companies - I.E. the Globe, the King's Men, the Federal Theater Project, and the Sistren Theater Collective

Literary magazines - I.E. The Quarterly Review and Punch, The New Masses, and Staffrider

So, as you can see, the list is quite extensive, helpful, and interesting.