Good basic anthology covering ficiton, poetry and drama.
6/26/2007
If you are an instructor interested in using this for your class, it is pretty good, though a bit on the conservative side. If you are a general reader or a student, you may very well like it, but the Norton series of anthologies are the standards. No anthology can do it all, but this one includes good critical sections on genres and basic approaches, as well as a little of everything: English, American, Minority, and World lit. It has pretty strong African American selections and a decent slice of classics. It has a handfull of selections from Latino writers. My main complaint is that it's pretty weak on Asian American writers and Native American writers. While it has a few of them, they tend to be pretty marginal. It works well for a class that functions as both composition and intro to lit. Unfortunately, some of the choices seem to come from a bygone era.
The one by which all others are measured
8/2/2007
The first review of this textbook is extremely misleading. This is THE most popular textbook in the country for Introduction to Literature courses. While the Norton is certainly popular too, it is not the "standard." Furthermore, the literature examples in the book are copious, varied and extremely well chosen. All periods and types of the genres are represented, and the headnotes are generous and well-written. The emphasis on writing is quite welcome, since in most Introduction to Literature courses the ultimate goal is for students to be able to write mature critical essays about what they're reading. The previous reviewer reveals his or her bias with the sneer about the book seeming to come from a "bygone era." By that I think the reviewer means that the book does not particularly emphasize late 20th century and 21st century authors and theoretical approaches. It does not ignore them, but it also doesn't emphasize them. I think the reason for that is that the book is an INTRODUCTION--not all first-year college students have the background to cope with the extremely abstract. Many of them have never before seriously read a poem. That's a sad comment on American high schools, but there it is. For most college Intro to Lit classes, this book is the best choice.