Author Description

Long recognised as the outstanding reference on world literature, The Reader s Encyclopedia is the one against which all others are measured, and is the single most complete one-volume encyclopedia available for those with a serious interest in the subject. The entries explore all aspects of literature from around the world: biographies of poets and playwrights, novelists and belletrists; plot synopses and character sketches from important works; historical data on literary schools, movements, terms, and awards; myths and legends; and more. Completely revised and updated, this fourth edition captures the diversity of today s canon, with greater attention to African-American, Eastern, Middle Eastern, African, South American, Eastern European, and women s literature. For nearly fifty years, William Rose Benet and the editors who succeeded him have upheld the level of quality that distinguished the original Reader s Encyclopedia. Like its predecessors, this new edition will teach and delight, illuminate and expound, and enrich the pleasure of reading in countless ways.