Wordsworth Companion to Literature in English

"The Wordsworth Companion to Literature in English" as edited by Ian Ousby does what most average readers need: brings us into the know about literature without requiring a PhD. It is cleanly edited, with a succinct but not crowded design. There are no pictures to augment the entries, but this was no a barrier to understanding what is presented. The average reader will never read it all. We go to our desk jobs, and sneak in a few pages here and there. However, there is a range of topics we wish we knew more about as we read. Look up terms like "Dubliners" and you can learn in brief about James Joyce's classic 1914 volume of short stories. Look up "Hopkins," and see Gerard Manley Hopkins, the humble yet profound Catholic priest whose poetic style helped influence today's metrical forms. In one entry, you might see a term in bold, letting you know an entry exists for that one. Find "The Southern Literary Messenger," a magazine best known for publishing Edgar Allan Poe (he was also editor from 1835-1837), and discover its overall history, from 1834-1864. There is just one paragraph, which, for me, is enough. Packed with names, titles, and styles, what it is missing are famous characters. Where's Juliet? Where's Sherlock Holmes? Where's the Artful Dodger? Beyond my criticism of the character entries (or lack of), I am pleased with the book. Read it in entirety, and you can confidently dash off into lucid conversations that will impress any of your grad school friends. I fully recommend "The Wordsworth Companion to Literature in English" as edited by Ian Ousby. Anthony Trendl editor, HungarianBookstore.com

This is a remarkably useful book -- an encyclopedic 1036 pages chock full of a wide range of entries relating to English language and literature. I purchased it for a song about a decade ago and have found it to be an invaluable resource. The book comprises mostly entries by authors or titles, but many other important topics are included, e.g., psychoanalytic criticism, irony, stream of consciousness, metre, Aesthetic Movement, and courtly love, to name but a few. Many lesser known authors and their works are included; all author entries contain succinct biographical data. Given the small print, there is quite a mountain of information contained in the pages of this volume. The entries are concise, exceptionally well written, and reflect the considerable learning of the book's contributors, 106 of whom are listed at the beginning. Time and again I have come to this book for an answer about something pertaining to English literature, and rarely have I been disappointed. I have not seen anything as good of its kind on the shelves of any bookstore.