Linda Wagner-Martin

Recounts the troubled life of the American poet and uses her unpublished letters and journals to depict the feelings that led her to suicide

A Biography

Sylvia Plath

Shelley Fisher Fishkin

Mark Twain

Charles Johnson

Offers a debate on the topics of free will, determinism, faith, and human nature

What is Man?

Hanes Professor of English and Comparative Literature Linda Wagner-Martin, Prof

A Novel of Admonition

The House of Mirth

"A comprehensive critical and biographical reading of Maya Angelou's life and work, from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) to His Day Is Done, A Nelson Mandela Tribute (2014)"--

Adventurous Spirit

Maya Angelou

Sylvia Plath: A Literary Life examines the way Plath made herself into a writer. Close analysis of Plath's reading and apprenticeship writing both in fiction and poetry sheds considerable light on Plath's work in the late 1960s. In this updated edition there will be discussion of the aftermath of Plath's death, including the publication of her Collected Poems--edited by Ted Hughes--which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1982. Biographies of Plath will be examined along with the publication of Hughes's Birthday Letters. A chronology maps out key events and publications both in Plath's lifetime and posthumously.

Sylvia Plath: A Literary Life, Second Edition

"Though her life was brief, the American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath (1932-63) exerted a profound influence on contemporary writers, particularly women writers of the sixties and seventies. Just as to her Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry Plath brought a decidedly feminist perspective, so too did she etch in her novel The Bell Jar a disturbing vision of life for young women in America at midcentury. The Bell Jar - based on Plath's own experiences as a student at Smith College, an intern at Mademoiselle, and a young woman battling for her own sanity amid societal mores of the times - was initially published in England under a pseudonym, its American publication stifled for years by the writer's family. When, however, the 1963 novel was finally released to U.S. audiences in 1971, it achieved both critical and popular success, and has since become a classic of feminist literature and a unique vehicle for better appreciating Plath's gifts." "It is through a multifaceted lens that Linda Wagner-Martin examines The Bell Jar in this new study. Whereas past critical attention has centered on The Bell Jar as autobiography, Wagner-Martin transcends that approach, looking as well at the novel in its larger context of the social and historical forces shaping women's lives in America during the fifties and sixties. Thus eschewing a simplistic reading of the novel, the author plumbs issues of gender, genre, and narrative voice. Arguing that Plath's troubled personal history was the product of her struggle against contemporary social forces, Wagner-Martin reviews the writer's prior work and inspects earlier, partial versions of the novel; explores Plath's use of humor and sarcasm; traces the writer's representation of patriarchal structures in the novel; and ultimately places the novel squarely in the tradition of works about women at odds with a society dominated by patriarchal values. A brilliantly argued, eminently readable approach to this masterpiece, The Bell Jar: A Novel of the Fifties is certain to be lauded by scholars and students alike."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The Bell Jar, a Novel of the Fifties

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 Routledge Introduction to American Modernism

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.

An American Woman's Life

Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald

Linda Welshimer Wagner

A Reference Guide

Ernest Hemingway

A Literary Life

Cathy N. Davidson

Expertly annotated short stories, poems, essays, plays, speeches, experimental writing, erotica, diaries, and correspondence by almost one hundred women of every age and ethnic background from the past four centuries offer a panorama of women's lives and concerns. UP.

The Oxford Book of Women's Writing in the United States

Still the most popular of Hemingway's books, The Sun also Rises captures the quintessential romance of the expatriate Americans and Britons in Paris after World War I. 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. This Casebook, edited by one of Hemingway's most eminent scholars, presents the best critical essays on the novel to be published in the last half century. These essays address topics as diverse as sexuality, religion, alcoholism, gender, Spanish culture, economics, and humor. The volume also includes an interview with Hemingway conducted by George Plimpton.

A Casebook

Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises

A collection of critical essays for the general reader on Faulkner's Go Down, Moses.

New Essays on Go Down, Moses

Fourth collection of essays in a series providing contemporary criticism of the work and life of Ernest Hemingway.

Eight Decades of Criticism

Hemingway

THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR MAYA ANGELOU DISCOVER THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF MAYA ANGELOU WITH A HIGHLY PERSONAL AND DETAILED ACCOUNT OF HER CHALLENGES AND TRIUMPHS The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou delivers an engaging and thorough retelling of the life and work of the celebrated and accomplished writer, director, and essayist. The book offers readers an engrossing retelling of Maya Angelou’s entire life, from her time as a child in the segregated town of Stamps, Arkansas, to her death in 2014 in Winston-Salem. Written with an emphasis on accessibility, the author avoids critical theory and focuses on Maya Angelou’s growth as a person and writer as well as the ways in which her life influenced her work. This new biography tells the story of a young black woman who overcomes poverty and endemic structural and personal obstacles to lead an accomplished life. Readers will also enjoy: A thorough retelling of the time Maya Angelou spent in Africa and how it shaped her views and work An exploration of the screenplays written by Maya Angelou Discussions of Maya Angelou’s early life as a dancer, singer, and writer Accounts of Maya Angelou’s writing and production of television shows A fulsome treatment of Maya Angelou’s work, including her poems, autobiographies, films, music, and theatre Perfect for undergraduate students in Contemporary Literature courses as well as general readers who love Maya Angelou and her work, The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou will also earn a place in the libraries of biography and literature enthusiasts who seek to improve their understanding of the life and story of Maya Angelou with a highly personal and accessible new book.

The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou

The novel's popularity endures as the story captures the reader's imagination with the sheer romance of the complicated, yet realistic portrayal of the marriage of Newland Archer to May Welland, and of his love for May's cousin, Ellen Olenska.

A Novel of Ironic Nostaglia

The Age of Innocence

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.

Reviews and essays tracing the critical reputation of this poet, presenting a balanced historical record of critical reaction. No bibliography. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Linda Wagner-Martin

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