Encyclopedia of American Literature, 1607 to the Present

Susan Clair Imbarrato, Carol Berkin, Brett Barney, Lisa Paddock, Matthew J. Bruccoli, George Parker Anderson, Judith S. Baughman, Carl Rollyson, and Marshall Boswell
Advisory Board:
Emory Elliott, University of California, Irvine; Wendy Martin, Harvey Mudd Graduate College; Sandra Adell, University of Wisconsin; Matthew J. Bruccoli, University of South Carolina; Richard Layman, Bruccoli Clark Layman Publishers and Manly, Inc.; and Park Bucker, University of South Carolina–Sumter
Praise for the previous edition:
Booklist/RBB "Editors' Choice Reference Source, 2002"
"…an excellent source for students…and its chronological arrangement offers a different slant. Recommended…" Booklist
"The articles are well-written and provide readers with a clear understanding of the topic. There is an excellent set index and an alphabetical list of entries in each book." School Library Journal
"The writing is clear and direct, and entries are cross-referenced…useful…" Choice
An Extensive Reference That Spans the Entire Scope of American Literature
A thoroughly expanded and revised edition of the award-winning set, Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition is an extensive reference work that spans the entire scope of American literature, from the colonial period to the present. Now in four chronological volumes, this comprehensive encyclopedia includes entries on writers, works, literary movements, and other topics that high school students and undergraduates are likely to encounter.
Four Volumes and More Than 1,000 New Entries, Illustrations, and Study Guide Sections
This major update boasts one new volume, approximately 1,000 new entries, more than 300 new black-and-white illustrations, more than 100 new study guide sections on major authors, and more. The majority of the new entries are on new writers and on important works of literature, with a particular emphasis on those most read by high school and college students. In addition, existing entries have been expanded and revised to reflect the latest scholarship. Bibliographies have been expanded and updated, and epigraphs have been added to the most important author entries.
Regionally and culturally inclusive, entries on writers describe key life events, provide thumbnail descriptions of and critical reactions to their works, and discuss the writer's significance in the literary period. Also included are bibliographies listing key critical and biographical resources, an index for each volume, and a general list of entries for the entire set. A chronology in each volume puts the literature of the period in context.
Volume I: Settlement to the New Republic, 1607–1815
Explores America s literary beginnings and the connections between early American history and the nation s emerging literary tradition covering the Puritans and their Bay Psalm Book, the Federalists and the United States Constitution, Benjamin Franklin, Phillis Wheatley, and more.
Volume II: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895
Discusses the writers, works, genres, literary movements, and related historical events of 19th-century America, from the romanticism of Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Ralph Waldo Emerson to the realism of Mark Twain, Henry James, and William Dean Howells.
Volume III: Into the Modern, 1896–1945
Defines the evolution of a new American sensibility and brings the modern literary world alive, with entries on Frank Norris; Stephen Crane; Booker T. Washington; F. Scott Fitzgerald; Zora Neale Hurston;The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains; Absalom, Absalom!; and The Waste Land.
Volume IV: The Contemporary World, 1946 to the Present
Examines the emergence of new writers and voices and describes the evolving movements that encompass today s literary history covering Deconstruction, the Beats, Toni Morrison s The Bluest Eye, gay and lesbian literature, New Journalism, science fiction and fantasy, and more.