Donna Tartt's The Secret History: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"…invaluable for gathering out-of-the-way or ephemeral comment from TV and radio interviews…the web…[and] literary reviews." -- The Times Higher Education Supplement, May 31, 2002

Product Description

This is part of a new series of guides to contemporary novels. The aim of the series is to give readers accessible and informative introductions to some of the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential novels of recent years - from 'The Remains of the Day' to 'White Teeth'. A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826453201
• ISBN-13: 978-0826453204
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #499,940 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pricey., November 16, 2001

By	Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This is an extremely slight little handbook--too limited to be of much use to the experienced reader, yet too expensive to justify its inclusion as a complement to Tartt's modern cult classic. Students who are at all motivated can easily get as much information through a few quick internet searches. I'm giving my copy to a student TA as a handy accessory for help in grading papers.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Different, interesting, enjoyable, October 25, 2002

By A Customer

Strangely enough I didn't like the Secret History when it was first released, and I only picked up this book because of all the advance press surrounding Ms Tartt's new novel. And now I'm a fan. Which is not, as far as I know, the job of literary criticism - but then this book is not quite lit crit, it's an odd combination of scholarship and enthusiasm that works surprisingly well. It's persuaded me that the Secret History is a much cleverer book than I gave it credit for, and it's made me marvel at Ms Tartt's erudition.

(On the strength of this volume, I picked up the same publisher's guide to American Psycho, and that one is even better.)

Right, I'm off to read the Little Friend.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book for Donna Tartt fans, November 1, 2001

By A Customer

Wasn't sure what to expect from this - a reader's guide makes it sound like it could be some patronising crap. But it's actually very smart, and even though I thought I knew it all about TSH, it turns out I didn't. Having said that, the author, Ms Hargreaves, missed out a few things, but maybe she didn't have room? Anyhow, she is very good on all the literary references in TSH, especially the Classical stuff. She regurgitates the most interesting parts of DT's printed interviews (shame she couldn't get a new one for this book, but not surprising I guess!), and I came away even more convinced of what a weird, wonderful one-off novel TSH is. Which makes me terrified that DT's new one will suck, but we'll have to see...

Definitely recommended, unless you really do know everything about the book already!