Customer Reviews

An Introduction to Fiction (8th Edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For years Norton has been the standard in the Literature textbook field. But lately it seems that Longman is coming up and taking over. First there are the pocket anthologies edited by R.S. Gwynn, better than anything Norton has. Then there is the Longman Anthology of Short Fiction edited by Dana Gioia and R.S. Gwynn, which should take the place of Norton as the standard that all other textbooks should be compared with. And finally there is the series of anthologies edited by X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia.

The Introduction to Fiction is an excellent anthology written by one of the best poets of this generation and one of the best poets of the older generation. Kennedy's years of experience in the literary world, and his years of experience writing for children (making things easy to understand), and Gioia's take on literature from outside the world of academia have given this anthology an ease of understanding that you won't find in anything Norton has put together. They write clearly. They have chosen good stories, and ones that help understand the topic of the chapter. As well as a `writer's perspective' which adds understanding to the story. They also have added two new casebooks on Raymond Carver and Flannery O'Connor.

I'd say that without any doubt Longman will overtake Norton with this anthology. In fact the only Fiction anthology that I find to be any better than this one is the Gioia & Gwynn Short Fiction anthology, also put out by Longman.

I love this book. We used it for my Intro to Fiction class, and it has a good mix of short stories. It has a lot of extras for some stories that will help you understand the stories better. I commend my teacher for picking this book and I won't sell this book for book-buy-back. It was also the same thing with last semester no one sold the book so we all had to buy new books.

I bought this book because it was a school requirement for one of my general Ed classes. The book was okay, but I didn't keep it in my library after the class was over, so that's got to say something.

I purchased this for class, but the stories it contains are really great. I fully intend on keeping this book for years, many really wonderful stories and good background on the authors.

I needed this book for my Short Story class. I received it in a timely manner and in decent condition. I am very pleased with my purchase.

the book wasnt in that great of a condition as they claimed it to be.. but it was a decent price.