The Routledge Introduction to American Postmodernism offers readers a fresh, insightful overview to all genres of postmodern writing. Drawing on a variety of works from not only mainstream authors but also those that are arguably unconventional, renowned scholar Linda Wagner-Martin gives the reader a solid framework and foundation to reading, understanding, and appreciating postmodern literature since its inception through the present day.

Walt Whitman: A Literary Life highlights two major influences on Whitman's poetry and life: the American Civil War and his economic condition. Linda Wagner-Martin performs a close reading of many of Whitman's poems, particularly his Civil War work (in Drum-Taps) and those poems written during the last twenty years of his life. Wagner-Martin's study also emphasizes the near-poverty that Whitman experienced. Starting with his early career as a printer and journalist, the book moves to the publication of Leaves of Grass, and his cultivation of the persona of the "working-class" writer. In addition to establishing Whitman's attention to the Civil War through journalism and memoirs, the book takes the approach of following Whitman's life through his poems. Utilizing contemporary perspectives on class, Wagner-Martin provides a new reading of Whitman's economic situation. This is an accessibly written synthesis of Whitman's publication history bringing attention to under-studied aspects of his writing.

The modernist period was crucial for American literature as it gave writers the chance to be truly innovative and create their own distinct identity. Starting slightly earlier than many guides to modernism this lucid and comprehensive guide introduces the reader to the essential history of the period including technology, religion, economy, class, gender and immigration. These contexts are woven of into discussions of many significant authors and texts from the period. Wagner-Martin brings her years of writing about American modernism to explicate poetry and drama as well as fiction and life-writing. Among the authors emphasized are Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Willa Cather, John Dos Passos, William Carlos Williams, Mike Gold, James T. Farrell, Clifford Odets, John Steinbeck and countless others. A clear and engaging introduction to an exciting period of literature, this is the ultimate guide for those seeking an overview of American Modernism.

The modernist period was crucial for American literature as it gave writers the chance to be truly innovative and create their own distinct identity. Starting slightly earlier than many guides to modernism this lucid and comprehensive guide introduces the reader to the essential history of the period including technology, religion, economy, class, gender and immigration. These contexts are woven of into discussions of many significant authors and texts from the period. Wagner-Martin brings her years of writing about American modernism to explicate poetry and drama as well as fiction and life-writing. Among the authors emphasized are Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Willa Cather, John Dos Passos, William Carlos Williams, Mike Gold, James T. Farrell, Clifford Odets, John Steinbeck and countless others. A clear and engaging introduction to an exciting period of literature, this is the ultimate guide for those seeking an overview of American Modernism.

Ernest Hemingway: A Literary Life includes new research on the best-known of the posthumous publications: A Moveable Feast, 1964 (and the 2009 A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition); Islands in the Stream, 1970; and The Garden of Eden, 1986. Linda Wagner-Martin provides background and intertextual readings-particularly of the way Hemingway's unpublished stories ("Phillip Haines was a writer") and his fiction from Men Without Women and Winner Take Nothing interface with the memoir. The revised edition also highlights and provides background on Hemingway's treatment of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein, his life in Paris in the 1920s, and his connection to the poetry scene there-putting this in conversation with Mary Hemingway's edits of A Moveable Feast. The new chapters also illuminate the reception of Islands in the Stream and a new way of understanding the role of gender and androgyny in The Garden of Eden. On a whole, the book draws from extensive archival research, particularly correspondence of all four of Hemingway's wives.

This set comprises 40 volumes covering 19th and 20th century European and American authors. These volumes will be available as a complete set, mini boxed sets (by theme) or as individual volumes. This second set compliments the first 68 volume set of Critical Heritage published by Routledge in October 1995.

A reading of the oeuvre of Toni Morrison-fiction, non-fiction, and other-drawing extensively from her many interviews as well as her primary texts, Toni Morrison: A Literary Life, second edition provides an overview of Morrison's intellectual growth as an artist. Linda Wagner-Martin aligns Morrison's novels with the works of Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner, assessing her works as among the most innovative, and most significant, worldwide, of the past fifty plus years. The revised edition includes new discussion of God Help the Child, The Origin of Others, and The Source of Self-Regard. These additions present and intensify scholarship on Morrison's major literary contributions, but also trace her significant role as a public intellectual, bringing to light the consistency of Morrison's aesthetic and political visions.

This book aims to both describe and analyze the way Steinbeck learned the writing craft. It begins with his immersion in the short story, some years after he stopped attending Stanford University. Aside from a weak first novel, his professional writing career began with the publication in 1932 of The Pastures of Heaven, stories set in the Salinas Valley and dedicated to his parents. From that book he wrote truly commanding stories such as The Red Pony. Intermixed with Steinbeck's journalism about California's labor difficulties, his writing skill led to his 1930 masterpieces, Of Mice and Men, In Dubious Battle, and The Grapes of Wrath. The latter novel, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1940, led eventually to his being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. He continued producing such wide-ranging works as The Pearl, East of Eden, The Winter of Our Discontent, and Travels with Charley up to just a few months before his death in 1968.

The Routledge Introduction to American Postmodernism offers readers a fresh, insightful overview to all genres of postmodern writing. Drawing on a variety of works from not only mainstream authors but also those that are arguably unconventional, renowned scholar Linda Wagner-Martin gives the reader a solid framework and foundation to reading, understanding, and appreciating postmodern literature since its inception through the present day.

Since Barbara Kingsolver published The Bean Trees in 1988, her work has been of great interest to readers-first, American readers; then British and South African readers; and finally to readers the world over. With incredible speed, Kingsolver became one of the best-known United States writers, a person who collected honors and awards as if she were a much more mature literary producer. From the beginning Kingsolver touched an elbow of keen interest in her readers: hers was the voice of world awareness, a conscientious voice that demanded attention for the narratives of the disadvantaged, the politically troubled, the humanly silenced. By paying special attention to her non-fiction (essays and books), this new study by renowned literary critic Linda Wagner-Martin highlights the way Kingsolver has become a kind of public intellectual, particularly in the twenty-first century. It will provides fresh readings of each of her novels, stories, and poems.

Linda Wagner Martin's Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is a twenty first century story. Using cultural and gender studies as contexts, Wagner Martin brings new information to the story of the Alabama judge's daughter who, at seventeen, met her husband to be, Scott Fitzgerald. Swept away from her stable home life into Jazz Age New York and Paris, Zelda eventually learned to be a writer and a painter and she came close to being a ballerina. An evocative portrayal of a talented woman's professional and emotional conflicts, this study contains extensive notes and new photographs. MARKET 1: Scholars and students of American literature; Women's Studies; Modernism; Twentieth-Century Literature MARKET 2: General reader

Go Down, Moses (1942) came to fruition during the Second World War, was written during one of Faulkner's most traumatic periods, and has fallen to critical neglect amid the vast scholarship on the great Southern writer. In part, this collection aims to tilt the balance, forcing the reader beyond critical commonplaces through asking challenging questions. The five essays assembled here explore the tensions of race and gender apparent throughout the novel. Judith Sensibar approaches the work through Faulkner's relationship with Caroline Barr, the black woman who was his primary caretaker in life; Judith Wittenberg offers an ecological reading; John T. Matthews redefines the novel as a 'Southern' experience; Minrose Gwin focuses on the spaces in the text occupied by black women characters; and Thadious M. Davis charts further complications of the black-white relationships that lie at the heart of the novel.

Go Down, Moses (1942) came to fruition during the Second World War, was written during one of Faulkner's most traumatic periods, and has fallen to critical neglect amid the vast scholarship on the great Southern writer. In part, this collection aims to tilt the balance, forcing the reader beyond critical commonplaces through asking challenging questions. The five essays assembled here explore the tensions of race and gender apparent throughout the novel. Judith Sensibar approaches the work through Faulkner's relationship with Caroline Barr, the black woman who was his primary caretaker in life; Judith Wittenberg offers an ecological reading; John T. Matthews redefines the novel as a 'Southern' experience; Minrose Gwin focuses on the spaces in the text occupied by black women characters; and Thadious M. Davis charts further complications of the black-white relationships that lie at the heart of the novel.

The Sun Also Rises (1926) was Hemingway's first novel and is now widely considered to be the most important of his longer works of fiction. Written in an accessible style by prominent scholars, this collection of essays provides helpful and valuable insight for new readers and Hemingway specialists alike. Each essay is devoted to a major aspect of the novel: Hemingway's use of humor, the literary and historical context of the book, the atypically modern character of Brett Ashley, and recent approaches to issues of sexuality in the novel.

The "Collected Critical Heritage II" comprises 40 volumes covering 19th and 20th century European and American authors. These volumes will be available as a complete set, mini boxes sets (by theme) or as individual volumes. This second set compliments the first 68 volume set of "Critical Heritage" published by Routledge in October 1995. "The Critical Heritage" series gathers together a large body of critical figures in literature. These selected sources include contemporary reviews from both popular and literary media. This volume covers American poet Sylvia Plath.

New, carefully focused essays providing a thorough examination of Hemingway's groundbreaking non-fictional work. Published in 1932, Death in the Afternoon reveals its author at the height of his intellectual and stylistic powers. By that time, Hemingway had already won critical and popular acclaim for his short stories and novels of the late twenties. A mature and self-confident artist, he now risked his career by switching from fiction to nonfiction, from American characters to Spanish bullfighters, from exotic and romantic settings to the tough world of theSpanish bullring, a world that might seem frightening and even repellant to those who do not understand it. Hemingway's nonfiction has been denied the attention that his novels and short stories have enjoyed, a state of affairs this Companion seeks to remedy, breaking new ground by applying theoretical and critical approaches to a work of nonfiction. It does so in original essays that offer a thorough, balanced examination of a complex, boundary-breaking, and hitherto neglected text. The volume is broken into sections dealing with: the composition, reception, and sources of Death in the Afternoon; cultural translation, cultural criticism, semiotics, and paratextual matters; and the issues of art, authorship, audience, and the literary legacy of Death in the Afternoon. The contributors to the volume, four men and seven women, lay to rest the stereotype of Hemingway as a macho writer whom women do not read; and their nationalities (British, Spanish, American, and Israeli) indicate that Death in the Afternoon, even as it focuses on a particular national art, discusses matters of universal concern. Contributors: Miriam B. Mandel, Robert W. Trogdon, Lisa Tyler, Linda Wagner-Martin, Peter Messent, Beatriz Penas Ibanez, Anthony Brand, Nancy Bredendick, Hilary Justice, Amy Vondrak, and Keneth Kinnamon. MiriamB. Mandel teaches in the English Department of Tel Aviv University.

A revised and updated edition of a comprehensive biographical and critical reading of the works of American poet and memoirist Maya Angelou (1928-2014). Linda Wagner-Martin covers all six of Angelou’s autobiographies, as well as her essay and poetry collections, whilst also exploring Angelou’s life as an African American in the United States, her career as stage and film performer, her thoughtful participation in the Civil Rights actions of the 1960s, and her travels abroad in Egypt, Africa, and Europe. In her discussion of Angelou’s methods of writing her stunning autobiography, which began with the 1970 publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Wagner-Martin writes about the influences of the Harlem Writers Group (led by James Baldwin, Paule Marshall, and John O. Killens) as well as Angelou’s significant friendships with Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other leaders from both international and African American United States cultures. Crucial concepts throughout include the role of oral traditions, of song and dance, of the spiritualism of art based on religious belief, of Angelou’s voiced rhythms and her polished use of dialogue to convey more abstract “meaning.” Wagner-Martin shows that, viewing herself as a global citizen, Angelou never lost her spirit of adventure and discovery as well as her ability to overcome. Named an Outstanding Academic Title of the Year by Choice in 2015, this new edition includes two new chapters on Angelou's connections to Africa and on her final years.

A revised and updated edition of a comprehensive biographical and critical reading of the works of American poet and memoirist Maya Angelou (1928-2014). Linda Wagner-Martin covers all six of Angelou’s autobiographies, as well as her essay and poetry collections, whilst also exploring Angelou’s life as an African American in the United States, her career as stage and film performer, her thoughtful participation in the Civil Rights actions of the 1960s, and her travels abroad in Egypt, Africa, and Europe. In her discussion of Angelou’s methods of writing her stunning autobiography, which began with the 1970 publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Wagner-Martin writes about the influences of the Harlem Writers Group (led by James Baldwin, Paule Marshall, and John O. Killens) as well as Angelou’s significant friendships with Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other leaders from both international and African American United States cultures. Crucial concepts throughout include the role of oral traditions, of song and dance, of the spiritualism of art based on religious belief, of Angelou’s voiced rhythms and her polished use of dialogue to convey more abstract “meaning.” Wagner-Martin shows that, viewing herself as a global citizen, Angelou never lost her spirit of adventure and discovery as well as her ability to overcome. Named an Outstanding Academic Title of the Year by Choice in 2015, this new edition includes two new chapters on Angelou's connections to Africa and on her final years.

The most substantial collection of critical essays on Morrison to appear since her death in mid-2019, this book contains previously unpublished essays which both acknowledge the universal significance of her writing even as they map new directions. Essayists include pre-eminent Morrison scholars, as well as scholars who work in cultural criticism, African American letters, American modernism, and women's writing. The book includes work on Morrison as a public intellectual; work which places Morrison's writing within today's currents of contemporary fiction; work which draws together Morrison's "trilogy" of Beloved, Jazz, and Paradise alongside Dos Passos' USA trilogy; work which links Morrison to such Black Atlantic artists as Lubaina Himid and others as well as work which offers a reading of "influence" that goes both directions between Morrison and Faulkner. Another cluster of essays treats seldom-discussed works by Morrison, including an essay on Morrison as writer of children's books and as speaker for children's education. In addition, a "Teaching Morrison" section is designed to help teachers and critics who teach Morrison in undergraduate classes. The Bloomsbury Handbook to Toni Morrison is wide-ranging, provocative, and satisfying; a fitting tribute to one of the greatest American novelists.

When Kino, a poor Indian pearl-diver, finds 'the Pearl of the world' he believes that his life will be magically transformed. He will marry Juana and their son Coyotito will be able to attend school. Obsessed by his dreams, Kino is blind to the greed and even violence the pearl arouses in him and his neighbours. Written with lyrical simplicity, The Pearl sets the values of the civilized world against those of the primitive and finds them tragically inadequate.

"A well-researched, engrossing history and critique of biographies of women. . . . A significant and provocative contribution to postfeminist literary criticism." --Kirkus Reviews "An insightful introduction to the art of biography by and about women. . . . Recommended." --Library Journal "An exhaustive survey of the issues, problems, and ethical dilemmas faced by biographers, and . . . a compelling reflection on the framing of any interpretive project, on the questions of voice and perspective, selection and organization, objectivity and invention." --Signs "This intelligent analysis of women's biographies is insightful, fascinating, and much needed. . . . Anyone will read women's biographies with a fresh eye after this." --Choice "A compelling analysis of the power structures and unspoken personal investments that define biography as a genre and as a cultural institution." --Shari Benstock, author of Women of the Left Bank and "No Gifts from Chance" A Biography of Edith Wharton "An insider's view of biographers at work, complete with lively revelations about what doesn't go into print. I read it with pleasure and admiration." --Diane Middlebrook, author of Anne Sexton: A Biography "A splendidly engrossing story-about-how-to-tell-a-story. This is an engaging book of ideas and gossip, humor and new information, people and publishing--by a woman biographer who seems to know everything about everyone." --Emily Toth, author of Kate Chopin: A Life of the Author of "The Awakening" Placing herself in the avid reader's chair, Linda Wagner-Martin writes about women's biography from George Eliot and Virgina Woolf to Eleanor Roosevelt and Margaret Mead, and even to Cher and Elizabeth Taylor. Along the way, she looks at dozens of other life stories, probing at the differences between biographies of men and women, prevailing stereotypes about women's lives and roles, questions about what is public and private, and hazy margins between autobiography, biography, and other genres. Linda Wagner-Martin is Hanes Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina. She is the author of "Favored Strangers" Gertrude Stein and Her Family, Sylvia Plath: A Biography, and other books.

In this revised edition, Linda Wagner-Martin offers a compelling study of African American writer Toni Morrison's work, beginning with The Bluest Eye in 1970 and continuing through her 2015 novel God Help the Child. Wagner-Martin describes Morrison as an inherently original novelist who was shaped throughout her career by her role within families. Her study focuses on Morrison's use of family in her narratives, particularly on the roles of mother and child. Beginning with the paradigm of a good mother (Mrs. MacTeer) in The Bluest Eye, set against women who are found wanting in their mother roles, Morrison concentrates in various ways on emphasizing these mother characters. Sometimes those roles are peripheral; more often, they are central. In Sula, for example, the title character has no interest in mothering, but she shows herself to be the product of family disinterest; in Song of Solomon Morrison creates what she terms an ancestor figure to give guidance to the young; in Tar Baby Marie Therese continues that role. Beloved tackles many dimensions of a mothers role. As Morrison continues to write her varied and powerful novels, from Jazz and Paradise through Love, A Mercy, and Home, the attention to judging the efficacy of mothering grows. Finally, in God Help the Child, she attends to little else. In Morrison's fictional world, drawing from the human and spiritual forces in both Africa and the United States provides some hope of a truly satisfying existence.

Wagner-Martin, a respected scholar of American modernism and former president of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and Society, offers a comprehensive guide to the novel's genesis, plot, background, themes, style, and critical reception. Each chapter overviews a significant element of the novel and includes thorough documentation. A bibliographic essay is also included.

A landmark of American literature, Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" (1929) is one of the most widely read and studied novels of the 20th century. Written by a respected scholar of American modernism and former president of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and Society, this reference is a comprehensive guide to the novel's genesis, plot, background, themes, style, and critical reception. Each chapter overviews a significant element of the novel and includes thorough documentation. The volume closes with a bibliographic essay, which provides summaries of current criticism in such fields as gender and feminist theory, medical humanities, and lesbian and gay studies.

Still the most popular book of Hemingway's to teach, The Sun Also Rises captures the quintessential romance of the expatriate Americans and Britains in Paris after World War I. As the international vacationers move from Paris to Pamplona for the bullfight festival, the characters wend their various narratives through the impressionistic colours of modern European life. The text provides a way for discussions of war, sexuality, personal angst, and national identity to be linked inextricably with the stylistic traits of modern writing. Both in theme and style, this novel has become synonymous with modernism and is often used as either a starting point for courses in modernism or as a representative modernist novel in broader survey courses. This volume, to be edited by one of Hemingway's most eminent scholars, will present the best in critical essays written about The Sun Also Rises.