Book Reviews
FullReviews Index
Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance
Pulitzer-Prize winning biographer Kenneth Silverman reflects on the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe, with many of the contradictions and travesties that make up this illusive and often controversial character of Edgar Allan Poe.
The Measure of Life: Virginia Wolf's Last Year
Herbert Marder conceptualizes the last ten years of Virginia Woolf's life, focusing on her revolutionary works, which she created before committing suicide in 1941. It was the most difficult time in Woolf's life.
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of OED
The Oxford English Dictionary is one of the greatest achievements in English literature, but it didn't happen overnight. In Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester delves into the mysterious history of this great text. Along the way, he highlights several of the major contributors. It's really their story...
The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde
The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde offers a look at some of the most dramatic moments in Oscar Wilde's life, but the records for those trials have remained unpublished since 1895, deemed unfit for publication.
Brave New World
In a futuristic society based on pleasure without moral repercussions, Aldous Huxley places a few oddball characters to stir up the plot. With eugenics at its core, this novel harkens back to Shakespeare's The Tempest.
The Thibaults
Written between 1922 and 1929, this 800-page chronicle of a Parisian family is a rewarding work for readers interested primarily in psychological motivations of complex, life-like characters.
First Impressions: Antarctica
Antarctica is still a place of mystery after all these years. It still exists in almost completely pristine condition, but there are many stories to tell about the people who have ventured there...
The Bhagavad-Gita
Perhaps the most profound text in the canon of Hindu literature is The Bhagavad-Gita, a sacred text, which most translators call Song of the Lord. It's a philosophical discourse between a warrior named Arjuna and the god Krishna.
Kate Chopin: Complete Novels and Stories
In this volume, Library of America publishes the complete works of Kate Chopin in one authoritative volume, including many previously uncollected stories.
What Happens in Literature
In What Happens in Literature, Edward W. Rosenheim offers a brief discussion of the basics of literature, including poems, novels and plays.
Three Vampire Tales
Three Vampire Tales, a new collection edited by Anne Williams, features famous vampire works.
Hemingway vs. Fitzgerald
Who was Ernest Hemingway? F. Scott Fitzgerald? We hardly need to ask. They are several of the greatest writers of the 20th century, and will be remembered for their very different contributions to literature. But, these two men were also friends.
Unearthing Atlantis
What happened to Atlantis, that lost civilization that vanished without a trace? Atlantis has captured our imaginations; and poets, writers, philosophers, and dreamers continue delve into the secrets of that lost continent.
To Walt Whitman, America
Walt Whitman burst upon the literary scene in 1855 with the first publication of Leaves of Grass. The world of literature would never be the same again. Whitman sang a song of America, but as Kenneth Price's study shows, Whitman's words have taken on a life of their own.
Autobiography of Mark Twain
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) has been likened to Walt Whitman as one of the most quintessentially American writers this country has produced. While this book does not contain Mark Twain's complete autobiography, the stories do leave us with more of a flavor for the man and the legend.
The Love Letters of Dylan Thomas
A classic Welsh writer, Dylan Thomas is one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. He once wrote of himself: "I hold a beast, an angel, and a madman in me, and my inquiry is as to their working..."
Cry the Beloved Country
Alan Paton began writing Cry the Beloved Country in a hotel room in Norway while he was undertaking a world-wide survey of correctional facilities. Once he'd started writing in a flood of emotion, it only took him three months to finish the book.
Hotel Savoy
]In his second novel, Hotel Savoy (1924), Joseph Roth skillfully depicts a string of events in the life of his Gabriel Dan. Roth was intent on portraying in prose the psychology of uprooted, hopeless, and hopeful."
I, Roger Williams
It's often easier to write about how much we don't know about the lives of early American writers than to discuss the few fragments of the past that have survived. Roger Williams was an early American writer, but we have very little real detail about his life and works.
John Greenleaf Whittier: Selected Poems
John Greenleaf Whittier has been called the "Quaker Poet." He's famous for "Snow-Bound," which sold more than 20,000 copies in one month. With this collection, Editor Brenda Wineapple reminds us of the poetry and the life of John Greenleaf Whittier. "Revisited now," the editor sees Whittier as "fresh, honest even flinty and practical."
F. Scott Fitzgerald: Novels and Stories 1920-1922
F. Scott Fitzgerald is known for The Great Gatsby, but he created a great many other novels and stories. Read about Fitzgerald's works from 1920-1922.
Thoreau: Collected Essays and Poems
To explore the breadth and intensity of Thoreau's work, Elizabeth Hall Witherell brings together Thoreau's work for the first time in one authoritative collection. As she writes, "America's greatest nature writer and a political thinker of worldwide impact, Henry David Thoreau crafted essays that reflect his speculative and probing cast of mind."
Mark Twain: Gilded Age and Other Novels
This Gilded Age collection encompasses Mark Twain's literary career, starting with his first novel-length, fictional work, The Gilded Age, which he co-wrote with Charles Dudley Warner... and carrying us through to his final work, The Mysterious Stranger, which was left in manuscript format upon his death.
Faith in a Seed: The Dispersion of Seeds and Other Late Natural History Writings
Henry David Thoreau's life was full of wonders. He led a life that was enmeshed in nature, as he saw and experienced life to the fullest. His belief in the power of nature has been well-documented. He's most recognized for Walden, which was a complete immersion in nature.
Refiguring Huckleberry Finn
In Refiguring Huckleberry Finn, Carl Wieck tackles Huck's famous story with a passion.