Masterpieces of American Literature

Over the years editor Frank N. Magill has focused attention of the classics to several generations of readers. What he tries and usually succeeds in doing is to make comprehensible all genres of literature from several cultures. His latest effort, MASTERPIECES OF AMERICAN LITERATURE is a worthy addition to the serious reader of the sorts of literature that are taught in the mainstream American universities. In MAL, the contributing reviewers describe 199 classics ranging from the colonial to the modern age. Each entry includes basic genre data: date of publication, type of work, author, locale, principal characters, plot summary, and critical evaluation. The critical evaluation sections tend to be the most informative since it is precisely here that the undergraduate reader will most likely find a vision that will come in handy at termpaper and exam time. There is an inherent flaw in summary books of this type, and regardless of how well such a book is written, the editors cannot avoid it. This flaw lies in the reader's acceptance of the editor's expertise in choosing representative works that tie in with the editors' stated intent. Now who am I to put my own puny vision above that of the distinguished and erudite editors?Still, since I am both a rational and critical thinker, Magill's choices, which include acts of commission as well as omission, often leave me gasping in disbelief. I have no problem with standard choices like Faulkner's AS I LAY DYING or Mark Twain's LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI or even thoroughly controversial ones like Nabokov's LOLITA, but too many literary near-misses, has-beens, and never-wases somehow wind up included at the expense of far more worthy contenders. Why include potboilers like Erskine's TOBACCO ROAD or routine westerners like McMurty's LONESONE DOVE? I would have appreciated an introduction that contained a rationale for Magill's choices. Had he approached the always dicey question of what makes one work of literature stand out enough to be a 'masterpiece,' then the reader's ability to think about such abstact qualities as characters' impacting both on each other and on the reader might be stimulated enough to lead this reader to take the book of plot summaries and do something really daring--to read the work itself and draw his own conclusions. And that to me is the ultimate goal of any piece of criticism.

This collection of approximately 200 American autobiographies, novels, plays, poetry, short stories, and essays is essential for any library, public or personal.It is an irreplaceable guide for students and scholars, or anyone who appreciates our American heritage of literature from the colonial times to the present.The reader is afforded a complete description of the principal characters, a synopsis of the story, and a critical evaluation of the story, as well. The type of work, the author, the type of plot, the date of the work, and the location of the work are also provided.You will feel like you just read each literary work, even if you have never read it before.