Literary Criticism - Reference

"The ultimate literary bucket list." --The Washington Post "If there's a heaven just for readers, this is it." --O, The Oprah Magazine Celebrate the pleasure of reading and the thrill of discovering new titles in an extraordinary book that's as compulsively readable, entertaining, surprising,...

John Pepper's love affair with books began when he was a child. He sought refuge and escape in books; he began to explore the world through them; he developed friendships, of a sort, with the authors whose writing inspired him. Over time, he came...

John Pepper's love affair with books began when he was a child. He sought refuge and escape in books; he began to explore the world through them; he developed friendships, of a sort, with the authors whose writing inspired him. Over time, he came...

***2023 Bram Stoker Awards(R) Winner*** The Ultimate List of Must-Read Horror Curious readers and fans of monsters and the macabre, get ready to bulk up your TBR piles! Sadie "Mother Horror" Hartmann has curated the best selection of modern horror books, including plenty of...

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres comes an essential guide for writers and readers alike: an exhilarating tour through one hundred novels that "inspires wicked delight." --Los Angeles Times Book ReviewFrom classics such as the thousand-year-old Tale of Genji to fiction...

Dive into the fantastical world and vocabulary of J. R. R. Tolkien with this deluxe edition that will stand out on your bookshelf. J. R. R. Tolkien created characters and a world so unique and so rich with details that they warranted a whole...

This edition of Midsummer Night's Dream is especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. This edition includes illustrations, preliminary notes, reading lists (including websites) and classroom notes, allowing students to master...

Full-color maps and illustrations from every reach of Middle-earth make this an essential guide to exploring Tolkien's world. Full-color maps and illustrations are accompanied by vivid descriptions of all the fantastical places and creatures of Middle-earth and the Undying Lands. Fans of The Lord...

This edition of master magician Aleister Crowley's sly, witty, and instructive collection of paradoxes includes rarely published commentary by the author himself. Written by the famed English occultist Aleister Crowley, The Book of Lies was first published in 1913. But later, around 1921, Crowley...

'This is, in fact, not what you were looking for; but it's much more interesting' Terry Pratchett Much loved for its wit and wisdom since 1870, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable takes you on a captivating adventure through its trademark blend of language,...

A user's guide to the fundamental practice of literary studies, providing context, examples, and practical exercises Close reading--making an argument based in close attention to a text--is the foundation of literary studies. This book offers a guide to close reading, treating it as a...

The villains of Middle-earth are explored in rich and colorful detail in this deluxe edition that will stand out on your shelf. The vast fictional universe of J. R. R. Tolkien contains many dark terrors to challenge the forces of good. This deluxe and...

From the author of the international bestseller Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, a heartfelt invitation to reflect on your relationship with reading and celebrate the joys of books. Why do we read? What is it that we hope to take away from the intimate,...

"An admirable and thought-provoking consideration of the underlying themes of The Hobbit, following the there-and-back-again progress from its famous first line on through to Bilbo's return home at the story's end." -- Douglas A. Anderson, author of The Annotated Hobbit The Hobbit is one...

From "a poet of immense insight and masterful craft" (Kwame Dawes), Finger Exercises for Poets is an engaging and inspiriting invitation to practice poetry alongside one of its masters. With wide-ranging examples from classic and contemporary poets, Dorianne Laux demystifies the magic of language...

This edition of Hamlet is especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. This edition includes illustrations, preliminary notes, reading lists (including websites) and classroom notes, allowing students to master Shakespeare's work....

Whether he's on Broadway or at the movies, considering a new bestseller or revisiting a literary classic, Daniel Mendelsohn's judgments over the past fifteen years have provoked and dazzled with their deep erudition, disarming emotionality, and tart wit. Now, How Beautiful It Is and...

Information is endlessly available to us; where shall wisdom be found?" is the crucial question with which renowned literary critic Harold Bloom begins this impassioned book on the pleasures and benefits of reading well. For more than forty years, Bloom has transformed college students...

Thoroughly revised and expanded for a new generation of readers, this classic guide to enjoying literature to its fullest--a lively, enlightening, and entertaining introduction to a diverse range of writing and literary devices that enrich these works, including symbols, themes, and contexts--teaches you how...

Thoroughly revised and expanded for a new generation of readers, this classic guide to enjoying literature to its fullest--a lively, enlightening, and entertaining introduction to a diverse range of writing and literary devices that enrich these works, including symbols, themes, and contexts--teaches you how...