Wow! eBook
A New Handbook of Literary Terms
Author(s): David Mikics (Author)
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Publication Date: 26 Feb. 2010
- Language: English
- Print length: 368 pages
- ISBN-10: 0300164319
- ISBN-13: 9780300164312
Book Description
'A New Handbook of Literary Terms' offers a lively, informative guide to words and concepts that every student of literature needs to know. Mikics's definitions are essayistic, witty, learned, and always a pleasure to read. They sketch the derivation and history of each term, including especially lucid explanations of verse forms and providing a firm sense of literary periods and movements from classicism to postmodernism. The 'Handbook' also supplies a helpful map to the intricate and at times confusing terrain of literary theory at the beginning of the twenty-first century: the author has designated a series of terms, from New Criticism to queer theory, that serves as a concise but thorough introduction to recent developments in literary study. Mikics's 'Handbook' is ideal for classroom use at all levels, from freshman to graduate. Instructors can assign individual entries, many of which are well-shaped essays in their own right. Useful bibliographical suggestions are given at the end of most entries. Throughout, the enjoyable style and thoughtful perspective serve to encourage students to browse and learn more. Every reader of literature will want to own this compact, delightfully written guide.
Editorial Reviews
Review
"A very learned and refreshingly lively handbook."--Ian Balfour, York University
--Ian Balfour
"It is aimed at a spread of abilities, and manages to be all things to all readers. I found it good to read--as enjoyable as any theoretical manuscript I've read."--Alastair Fowler, University of Edinburgh
--Alastair Fowler
"Very few books give much more than they promise. Mikics's New Handbook is superbly generous in offering vast stores of insight and information. It is an exuberant introduction to all of Western literature and criticism."--Harold Bloom --Harold Bloom
About the Author
David Mikics is professor of English at the University of Houston. He is the author of several books, including 'The Limits of Moralizing: Pathos and Subjectivity in Spenser and Milton' and 'The Romance of Individualism in Emerson and Nietzsche'.
