 | |
| Editor | Jay Parini |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Publication date | 2004 |
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature is a 2004 encyclopedia published by Oxford University Press and edited by Jay Parini.
| | |
| Editor | Jay Parini |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Publication date | 2004 |
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature is a 2004 encyclopedia published by Oxford University Press and edited by Jay Parini.
The encyclopedia sought to provide a "comprehensive discussion of literary practices within the United States from colonial times to the present" and consisted of 4 volumes and 350 essays drawn from 190 authors. The contributors were predominantly drawn from American institutions. The essays analyzed aspects of literature including books, authors, and literary movements. The encyclopedia was aimed at a general audience without specialized knowledge of the field. The entries are arranged alphabetically rather than chronologically. [1] [2] The preface stated that supplements would be published. [3]
Some reviewers compared the encyclopedia to The Cambridge Encyclopedia of American Literature . [1] [2] A review in the Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature asked why Oxford University Press needed to publish the encyclopedia, noting that it duplicated efforts of many other works. The review opined that it failed to "catalyze research" and engages in "opinion mongering and a curious myopia about experimental writing." [4] A reviewer in Reference & User Services Quarterly noted the encyclopedia adequately met the general expectations for encyclopedias, such as crediting the essays and properly citing sources. They felt the author biographies presented were done better elsewhere but praised the essays on themes in literature as setting the encyclopedia "apart". The reviewer concluded that the volumes were not "essential" to studying literature but still made an "excellent addition to the reference shelves". [1]
A reviewer for Reference Reviews concluded that "serious collections will not be able to manage without The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, which will prove invaluable to enquirers and scholars at basic and intermediary levels of enquiry." [2] Booklist noted several items it considered to be omissions in the book's coverage, particularly of contemporary authors, highlighting the lack of mentions of John Guare, Paul Auster, Steven Millhauser, and John Kennedy Toole. In comparison to other similar encyclopedias, it determined that it was "intrinsically better but lacks the same breadth" and concluded "The Oxford set is praiseworthy and recommended for most high-school, public, and academic libraries, though it needs to be used in conjunction with other, more comprehensive resources." [3]
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters. Literary magazines are often called literary journals, or little magazines, terms intended to contrast them with larger, commercial magazines.
Current Biography is an American monthly magazine published by the H. W. Wilson Company of New York City, a publisher of reference books, that appears every month except December. Current Biography contains profiles of people in the news and includes politicians, athletes, businessmen, and entertainers. Published since 1940, the articles are annually collected into bound volumes called Current Biography Yearbook. A December issue of the magazine is not published because the staff works on the final cumulative volume for the year. Articles in the bound volumes correct any mistakes that may have appeared in the magazine and may include additional relevant information about the subject that became available since publication of the original article. The work is a standard reference source in American libraries, and the publisher keeps in print the older volumes. Wilson also issues cumulative indexes to the set, and an online version is available as a subscription database.
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The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment, edited by Michael D. C. Drout, was published by Routledge in 2006. A team of 127 Tolkien scholars on 720 pages cover topics of Tolkien's fiction, his academic works, his intellectual and spiritual influences, and his biography. Co-editors were Douglas A. Anderson, Verlyn Flieger, Marjorie Burns and Tom Shippey.
The Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound is a reference work that, among other things, describes the history of sound recordings, from November 1877 when Edison developed the first model of a cylinder phonograph, and earlier, in 1857, when Léon Scott de Martinville invented the phonautograph. The first edition – Guy Anthony Marco, Phd (editor), and Frank Andrews (1920–2015) – was published in 1993. The second 2-volume edition, published in 2005, spans one hundred forty-seven years of recorded sound. Frank W. Hoffman, PhD, of Sam Houston State University is Editor and Howard William Ferstler of Florida State University is Technical Editor.
The Motion Picture Guide is a film reference work first published by Cinebooks in 1985. It was written by Jay Robert Nash, Stanley Ralph Ross, and Robert B. Connelly. It was annually updated through new volumes and had a CD-ROM version, which was eventually incorporated into Microsoft Cinemania.
Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency is a 2003 book by W. Thomas Smith Jr. It is an encyclopedic work on the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the only independent agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with intelligence-gathering. The work chronicles the history of the agency from its founding in 1947 through the war on terror, which began after the September 11 attacks. The encyclopedia's chronology ends in 2003. It provides approximately 550 entries across 282 pages on topics including notable contributors, intelligence operations, historical events, and depictions of the CIA in fictional media.
The Columbia History of Chinese Literature is a reference book edited by Victor H. Mair and published by the Columbia University Press in 2002. The topics include all genres and periods of poetry, prose, fiction, and drama but also areas not traditionally thought of as literature, such as wit and humour, proverbs and rhetoric, historical and philosophical writings, classical exegesis, literary theory and criticism, traditional fiction commentary, as well as popular culture, the impact of religion upon literature, the role of women, and the relationship with non-Chinese languages and ethnic minorities. There are also chapters on Chinese literature in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature is a 1995 anthology of Chinese literature edited by Joseph S. M. Lau and Howard Goldblatt and published by Columbia University. Its intended use is to be a textbook.
The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature is a 2-volume history book series published by Cambridge University Press in 2013. The books were edited by Kang-i Sun Chang and Stephen Owen. Volume 1 deals with Chinese literature before the Ming dynasty, and Volume 2 from the Ming dynasty onward.
Yearbook on International Communist Affairs is a series of 25 books published annually between 1966 and 1991, which chronicle the activities of communist parties throughout the world. It was published by the Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University. Richard F. Staar served as its editor in chief for most of its editions.
Susan Laura Mizruchi is professor of English literature and the William Arrowsmith Professor in the Humanities at Boston University. Her research interests include nineteenth- and twentieth-century American literature, religion and culture, literary and social theory, literary history, history of the social sciences, and American and Global Film and TV. Since 2016, she has served as the director of the Boston University Center for the Humanities.
Joanne Margaret Braxton is an American author, teacher, and literary critic. She has written about topics including Maya Angelou and the book Black Women Writing Autobiography. Braxton has also edited works such as Wild Women in the Whirlwind: Afra-American Culture and the Contemporary Literary Renaissance and a collection of Paul Laurence Dunbar's poetry. She is an emeritus Frances L. and Edwin L. Cummings Professor of the Humanities at the College of William & Mary, and President of the Board of the Braxton Institute.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders is an English language reference work on science fiction and fantasy, published in 2005 by Greenwood Press. It was edited by Gary Westfahl and consists of three volumes of 200 entries each. The first two volumes contain entries organized by themes, such as "Aliens in Space", "Asia" or "Rats and Mice", while the third volume lists works such as novels and films which are considered defining for the science fiction and fantasy genres.
American Authors and Books is a reference work about American literature. Editions, with varying subtitles, were published in 1943, 1962, and 1972.
Book Review Digest is a reference work by H. W. Wilson Company that compiles recent book reviews. Printed monthly with annual compendia, it digests American and English periodicals from 1905 to the present day. Before the Internet, Book Review Digest was a significant reference tool and bibliographic aid used by the American public and librarians alike to find current literature. An online edition of the collection is offered in two subscription products: Book Review Digest Retrospective (1905–1982) and Book Review Digest Plus.
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