The Cambridge Companion to Mark Twain

The Cambridge Companion to Mark Twain
Author: Forrest G. Robinson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 1995-05-26
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780521445931

The Cambridge Companion to Mark Twain offers new and thought provoking essays on an author of enduring pre-eminence in the American canon. The book is a collaborative project, assembled by scholars who have played crucial roles in the recent explosion of Twain criticism. Accessible enough to interest both experienced specialists and students new to Twain criticism, the essays examine Twain from a wide variety of critical perspectives, and include timely reflections by major critics on the hotly debated dynamics of race and slavery perceptible throughout his writing. The volume includes a chronology of Twain's life and a list of suggestions for further reading, to provide the students or general reader with sources for background as well as additional information.

The Cambridge Introduction to Mark Twain

The Cambridge Introduction to Mark Twain
Author: Peter Messent
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 120
Release: 2007-03-08
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 113946227X

Mark Twain is a central figure in nineteenth-century American literature, and his novels are among the best-known and most often studied texts in the field. This clear and incisive Introduction provides a biography of the author and situates his works in the historical and cultural context of his times. Peter Messent gives accessible but penetrating readings of the best-known writings including Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He pays particular attention to the way Twain's humour works and how it underpins his prose style. The final chapter provides up-to-date analysis of the recent critical reception of Twain's writing, and summarises the contentious and important debates about his literary and cultural position. The guide to further reading will help those who wish to extend their research and critical work on the author. This book will be of outstanding value to anyone coming to Twain for the first time.

The Cambridge Companion to Literature of the American West

The Cambridge Companion to Literature of the American West
Author: Steven Frye
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2016-04-26
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1107095379

This Companion provides a comprehensive introduction to the literature of the American West, one of the most vibrant and diverse literary traditions.

The Cambridge Companion to American Realism and Naturalism

The Cambridge Companion to American Realism and Naturalism
Author: Donald Pizer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 310
Release: 1995-06-30
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780521438766

This Companion examines a number of issues related to the terms realism and naturalism. The introduction seeks both to discuss the problems in the use of these two terms in relation to late nineteenth-century fiction and to describe the history of previous efforts to make the terms expressive of American writing of this period. The Companion includes ten essays which fall into four categories: essays on the historical context of realism and naturalism by Louis Budd and Richard Lehan; essays on critical approaches to the movements since the early 1970s by Michael Anesko, essays on the efforts to expand the canon of realism and naturalism by Elizabeth Ammons; and a full-scale discussion of ten major texts, from W. D. Howell's The Rise of Silas Lapham to Jack London's The Call of the Wild, by John W. Crowley, Tom Quirk, J. C. Levenson, Blanche Gelfant, Barbara Hochman, and Jacqueline Tavernier-Courbin.

The Cambridge Companion to American Novelists

The Cambridge Companion to American Novelists
Author: Timothy Parrish
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2013
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1107013135

This volume provides newly commissioned essays from leading scholars and critics on the social and cultural history of the novel in America. It explores the work of the most influential American novelists of the past 200 years, including Melville, Twain, James, Wharton, Cather, Faulkner, Ellison, Pynchon, and Morrison.

A Companion to Mark Twain

A Companion to Mark Twain
Author: Peter Messent
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 597
Release: 2015-08-17
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1119045398

This broad-ranging companion brings together respected American and European critics and a number of up-and-coming scholars to provide an overview of Twain, his background, his writings, and his place in American literary history. One of the most broad-ranging volumes to appear on Mark Twain in recent years Brings together respected Twain critics and a number of younger scholars in the field to provide an overview of this central figure in American literature Places special emphasis on the ways in which Twain's works remain both relevant and important for a twenty-first century audience A concluding essay evaluates the changing landscape of Twain criticism

The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe

The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe
Author: Kevin J. Hayes
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2002-04-25
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780521797276

This collection of specially-commissioned essays by experts in the field explores key dimensions of Edgar Allan Poe's work and life. Contributions provide a series of alternative perspectives on one of the most enigmatic and controversial American writers. The essays, specially tailored to the needs of undergraduates, examine all of Poe's major writings, his poetry, short stories and criticism, and place his work in a variety of literary, cultural and political contexts. They situate his imaginative writings in relation to different modes of writing: humor, Gothicism, anti-slavery tracts, science fiction, the detective story, and sentimental fiction. Three chapters examine specific works: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, 'The Fall of the House of Usher', 'The Raven', and 'Ulalume'. The volume features a detailed chronology and a comprehensive guide to further reading, and will be of interest to students and scholars alike.

The Cambridge Companion to American Travel Writing

The Cambridge Companion to American Travel Writing
Author: Alfred Bendixen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2009-01-29
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0521861098

A stimulating overview of American journeys from the eighteenth century to the present.

The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend

The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend
Author: Elizabeth Archibald
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2009-09-10
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0521860598

Covers the evolution of the legend over time and analyses the major themes that have emerged.