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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 803
EAN: 9780877790426
ISBN: 0877790426
Label: Merriam-Webster
Manufacturer: Merriam-Webster
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 1236
Publication Date: 1995-04
Publisher: Merriam-Webster
Studio: Merriam-Webster

A rich source of information about the world's finest literature. Over 10,000 entries and 250 illustrations covering authors, works, and literary terms and topics from all eras and all parts of the world. Includes pronunciations.

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: An Encyclopedia with Plot Spoilers
Review: I have had a few books ruined by this encyclopedia's entries. When a four line entry about a novel tells you how a book ends, it can truly alter your reading experience in a drastic way. I had Hardy's "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" forever altered by such a disclosure. Similarly, Beckett's "Murphy." This is a valuable resource, but it is incomplete (as all such books must be, thankfully) and blunt in its synopses to the extent that it can potentially ruin a reading experience. Granted, not every literary work is to be read for plot, but there are many fine works that can be, and those books suffer here.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Handy one volume resource for basic information on writers, their works, and terms of art
Review: This is a very handy resource to find short information articles on authors, literary works, major characters, terms of literary art, and a few pictures of the major writers. It is not limited to English and American writers, but it is European in focus - though there are writers and works from other parts of the world as well.

Each term has a pronunciation guide, which can be helpful. The articles are helpful, but brief. The biographical entries are also helpful, but cursory. It has to be that way in a book of this size given the number of terms covered. Additional bibliographical entries are not provided.

This is a handy resource if not as comprehensive as the dust jacket claims. Given the prices of used copies, it is a steal.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: WOW-- Great Research Book
Review: I bought this book because it was one of the recommendations by Writer's Digest to get a large resource in a compact package that gives descriptions of most of the worlds most known authors and what they have written. I had no idea how jam-packed it is with information. Highly recommended as a textbook for all English Majors and/or wanna-be writers!

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: I Use My Copy Frequently - A Valuable Resource
Review: The Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature professes to be a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the world of literature - authors, works, terms, and topics - from all eras and all parts of the world. In my view this joint effort of Merriam Webster and Encyclopedia of Britannica is exactly what it claims to be. I have used this valuable resource for several years and I highly recommend it.

This is a rather heavy, thick book and not suitable for a carrying in a backpack. I keep my copy readily accessible in my favorite reading area. Whenever I look up a topic, I pencil-in a small check mark. My little check marks are now scattered throughout this reference book.

The short descriptive passages, generally around 100 to 500 words, are well written and often sufficiently intriguing that I find myself moving from one related topic to another. This compilation is ideal for students and teachers, but I recommend this single volume encyclopedia for anyone that enjoys literature.

The references include literary works, classic authors, contemporary authors, mythology and folklore, literary terms, literary styles, historical literary movements, scholars and critics, and literary awards and prizes. I rarely fail to find whatever I am looking for. I would be quite surprised if this compilation did not meet your needs.

I also have a copy of another good reference work, Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, possibly the best-known literary encyclopedia. Benet's compilation overlaps considerably with the Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature, but the two are not identical.

Benet's reference work contains less literary references, most notably fewer literary terms and definitions. Benet's is less likely than Merriam-Webster to have a short essay on a specific literary work or poem. For example, Benet's does not have an entry for The Name of the Rose, I Sing the Body Electric, Love in the Time of Cholera, For the Union Dead, or many other titles found in Merriam Webster.

However, Benet's compilation is wider in scope, having many historical definitions (e.g., Napoleon Bonaparte, Congress of Vienna, Vietnam War, Vikings), more religious terms (e.g., trimurti - Hindu and tripitaka - Buddhist), and more art and music references (e.g., Grandma Moses, Picasso, and Mozart).

I give 5 stars to Merriam Webster and 4 stars to Benet.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A hefty overview
Review: Merriam Webster's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE is a 1200 page overview of literature, with entries documenting important written materials from antiquity to contemporary times. Arranged alphabetically, this volume is easy to use. Readers can look up authors, individual works, literary devices and forms, and schools of thought - the important ones are all there. Because so much is included, the entries themselves are short, usually one or two paragraphs. This volume is wonderful if you want to remind yourself of an author's major works or what the definition of a sonnet is. You can use the thumbnail entries as starting points for additional research, or as a quick way to check dates and titles.

As an overview of literature throughout the ages, this encyclopedia is well worth owning. If you want more in-depth analysis, I suggest looking for books particular to your topic of interest.

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