{"title":"Critical Companions To Popular Contemporary Writers","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the minds behind your favourite modern authors with this insightful series. Each volume offers critical perspectives, exploring the themes, techniques, and cultural impact of today's most popular writers.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"michael-crichton-book-elizabeth-trembley-9780313294143","title":"Michael Crichton","description":"Until now, Michael Crichton's many readers have had nowhere to turn for more information on one of America's most popular novelists. This companion features clear analyses of Crichton's life and literary influences, as well as chapters on each of his 13 novels to date. It will help Crichton's readers to learn more about how significant events in his life affected the development of his fiction and literary style and how the heritage of popular fiction, including mystery, gothic, adventure, and science fiction, influenced his writing. This study provides close textual analysis of each of his novels in turn, focusing on plot, character development, theme, and critical interpretation.  This study analyzes Crichton's novels from ^IThe Andromeda Strain^R (1969) to ^IDisclosure^R (1994). It features a clear, user-friendly organization, with two general chapters on Crichton's life and literary heritage, and one chapter on each of his novels. For ease of use by the reader, each chapter is subdivided into sections on general critical analysis, plot, theme, character development, and alternative perspectives on the novel that offer additional insight. The author shows how each of Crichton's novels incorporates a theme or debate from current culture and how his visions of genetically engineered dinosaurs, killer viruses from outer space, and deadly relations in international business have become part of American culture. This study will help the reader to understand the important issues raised by Crichton's fiction and to apply critical insight to an examination of those issues. No secondary school, public library, or college library should be without this first serious examination of the works of Michael Crichton.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49643888673041,"sku":"GOR006231210","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50302370513169,"sku":"GOR012932246","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50627452469521,"sku":"CIN0313294143VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51734510797073,"sku":"CIN0313294143G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52127368020241,"sku":"NLS9780313294143","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":52153036931345,"sku":"CIN0313294143A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313294143.jpg?v=1751038255"},{"product_id":"anne-tyler-book-paul-bail-9780313302497","title":"Anne Tyler","description":"Anne Tyler's novels strike a deep chord of responsiveness in her readers because her novels bring to life contemporary characters to whom we can instantly relate and in whose experiences we can see mirrored our own.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49655036379409,"sku":"GOR007916417","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50349545455889,"sku":"CIN0313302499G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52340278493457,"sku":"NLS9780313302497","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313302499.jpg?v=1751986413"},{"product_id":"gore-vidal-book-susan-c-baker-9780313295799","title":"Gore Vidal","description":"Baker and Gibson show that while Vidal's novels are tremendously entertaining, they are also serious examinations of a recurring themethe decline of the West in general and the decline of the United States in particular.  A biographical sketch of the writer precedes a general discussion of Vidal's early novels.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49756236939537,"sku":"GOR013775901","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50697026830609,"sku":"NGR9780313295799","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52478345052433,"sku":"NLS9780313295799","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313295794.jpg?v=1751467016"},{"product_id":"revisiting-stephen-king-book-sharon-a-russell-9780313317880","title":"Revisiting Stephen King","description":"In spite of tremendous personal adversity, Stephen King continues to reign as perhaps the most popular and prolific writer in America. This reader on him contains a biographical chapter, and chapters examining each of his works with concise plot synopses.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49757743022353,"sku":"CIN0313317887G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52478219059473,"sku":"NLS9780313317880","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52626767118609,"sku":"CIN0313317887VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53406142660881,"sku":"GOR014909179","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53407130485009,"sku":"GOR004690189","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313317887.jpg?v=1772358381"},{"product_id":"tom-robbins-book-catherine-e-hoyser-9780313294181","title":"Tom Robbins","description":"This study of the work of novelist Tom Robbins looks at the style and language which characterize his work. In addition to a critique of each of his novels, the work contains biographical material and a full-length bibliography including Robbins' fiction reviews.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49883332018449,"sku":"CIN0313294186G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52137876259089,"sku":"NLS9780313294181","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313294186.jpg?v=1751465175"},{"product_id":"v-c-andrews-book-edelma-d-huntley-9780313294488","title":"V. C. Andrews","description":"Huntley locates the novels in the tradition of the female gothic, which Andrews refashioned into her own brand of gothicism: a blend of the gothic with horror fiction and the fairy tale.  Huntley's study of Andrews's novels provides close textual analysis.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49962617602321,"sku":"CIN0313294488G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51306519560465,"sku":"CIN0313294488VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52121773670673,"sku":"NLS9780313294488","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313294488.jpg?v=1751462419"},{"product_id":"mary-higgins-clark-book-linda-de-roche-9780313294136","title":"Mary Higgins Clark","description":"A critical study of the work of Mary Higgins Clark who uses the literary genre of mystery and suspense to write popular fiction. This text examines common themes in Clark's work, such as the consequences of crime on innocent victims, and explores her treatment of current social issues.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50123910709521,"sku":"CIN0313294135G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52126928503057,"sku":"NLS9780313294136","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313294135.jpg?v=1750973850"},{"product_id":"ray-bradbury-book-robin-anne-reid-9780313309014","title":"Ray Bradbury","description":"Reviewers and critics have not always agreed on how well the science fiction label fit Ray Bradbury, but the immense popularity of works like The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man leaves no doubt as to the enduring status of this important writer. This Critical Companion examines, in a Literary Heritage chapter, the situation of Bradbury's works within the science fiction genre and explores thematic concerns that set works like Fahrenheit 451 and Dandelion Wine apart from conventional popular SF writings. This introduction to Bradbury, written especially for students, traces Bradbury's interesting life, examining his early literary efforts, his forays into Hollywood, and his recent writing projects. Eight of Bradbury's major works are discussed at length, each in its own chapter, including two works published within the last ten years: A Graveyard for Lunatics (1990) and Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). Clear, thoughtful analysis is also given for The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Death Is a Lonely Business.  In each chapter, analysis of the important literary components is given: plot, setting, characters, and themes. In addition, the genesis, critical reception, and an alternate reading of each work is also discussed in clear terms for students and general readers. Suggestions for further reading on Bradbury and his writings are also provided in a select yet extensive bibliography. This volume is ideal both for students reading Bradbury for the first time and for dedicated Bradbury fans who wish to appreciate his work with a deeper critical perspective.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50336350437649,"sku":"CIN0313309019G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52453922636049,"sku":"NLS9780313309014","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313309019.jpg?v=1751463194"},{"product_id":"robert-ludlum-book-gina-macdonald-9780313299711","title":"Robert Ludlum","description":"This study examines 17 of Ludlum's novels, his literary roots, and the themes running through the novels. Each novel is organized into sections on plot and structure, character and theme, and features an alternate critical interpretation, such as Freudian, Marxist or reader response.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50347705237777,"sku":"CIN0313299714G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52340095123729,"sku":"NLS9780313299711","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313299714.jpg?v=1750877659"},{"product_id":"walter-mosley-book-charles-e-wilson-jr-9780313320224","title":"Walter Mosley","description":"Readers of this Critical Companion will discover the richness of Mosley's writings, as well as his contributions to the African-American literary tradition, the genres of detective writing and science fiction, and American literature in general. Mosley's influences, inspirations, obstacles, and successes are presented in a richly drawn biographical chapter, which incorporates the author's most recent interviews.    Mosley's first detective novel, Devil in a Blue Dress (1990), established a new voice in detective fiction, offering an African American perspective that resonated to a broad spectrum of readers. From his Easy Rawlins mysteries to his science fiction, Mosley invites readers into unexpected worlds and challenges his audience to think beyond their assumptions about society. Perhaps because he manages to link the trials of his characters to the enigma of the human condition, his prolific, genre-spanning work has met with both popular and critical success.    This is the only book-length study of Mosley's fiction, covering eight of his key novels, including his most recent, Bad Boy Brawley Brown (2002). In addition to comprehensive plot synopsis, character portraits, and thematic discussions for each work, historical contexts are considered. Terms and concepts are clearly explained for the student and general reader. A select bibliography cites biographical sources, interviews, criticism, reviews, and related works of interest.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50347715756305,"sku":"CIN0313320225G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313320225.jpg?v=1751324228"},{"product_id":"maya-angelou-book-mary-jane-lupton-9780313303258","title":"Maya Angelou","description":"This volume examines the autobiographies of Maya Angelou, looking at her African American vision, issues of motherhood and race, and the struggles of being a black mother in America.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50347726307601,"sku":"CIN0313303258G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51495043793169,"sku":"GOR005028664","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52704778289425,"sku":"CIN0313303258VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313303258.jpg?v=1751429181"},{"product_id":"john-jakes-book-mary-ellen-jones-9780313295300","title":"John Jakes","description":"John Jakes, often called the people's author and godfather of the historical novel, has made American history come to life in his series The Kent Family Chronicles and The North and South Trilogy. Through these novels, Jakes conveys the sweep of American history, both its glory and its grim scenes, from the American Revolution to the opening moments of the 20th century. Never glossing over the nation's flaws (slavery, materialism, a double-edged Manifest Destiny), Jakes nevertheless affirms American values. This is the first full-length critical study of his work. It examines in detail Jakes' 13 major novels to date and assesses his methods as America's history teacher.    In Part I, following a chapter on Jakes' life, Jones examines the early novels and Jakes' use of the genres of historical fiction, the western, and the historical family sage. Part II, The Kent Family Chronicles, devotes an individual chapter to each of the novels in this series, The Bastard, The Rebels, The Seekers, The Furies, The Titans, The Warriors,   The Lawless, and The Americans. Part III, New Beginnings, features chapters on North and South, Love and War, and Heaven and Hell, and chapters on California Gold and Homeland. The examination of each novel in this study includes sections on plot development, character development, and thematic issues. Jones also offers an alternative critical perspective from which to read each novel—such as feminist literary criticism, New Historicism, Marxist criticism, and Deconstructionism—that gives the reader an alternative viewpoint from which to consider the novel. A complete bibliography of all of John Jakes' work, works about John Jakes, and a listing of reviews of all the novels examined in the book concludes the study.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50347729682705,"sku":"CIN0313295301G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52337367712017,"sku":"NLS9780313295300","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313295301.jpg?v=1750780883"},{"product_id":"louise-erdrich-book-lorena-laura-stookey-9780313306129","title":"Louise Erdrich","description":"This insightful analysis helps students and lovers of fine literature approach Erdrich's work with greater appreciation for her bold narrative style.  This study begins with a fascinating biographical account, tracing early influences in Louise Erdrich's life.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50347742527761,"sku":"CIN0313306125G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52135418003729,"sku":"NLS9780313306129","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313306125.jpg?v=1751464345"},{"product_id":"julia-alvarez-book-silvio-sirias-9780313309939","title":"Julia Alvarez","description":"Julia Alvarez made her mark on the American literary horizon with the 1991 publication of her debut novel How the Garc^D'ia Girls Lost Their Accents, a story based on her own family's bicultural experiences. Readers and critics alike quickly discovered the writer's penchant for extracting humor from hardship, and weaving personal history into vivid prose. Within a decade, Alvarez had published three more highly acclaimed novels, including  !Yo! (1997), a delightful sequel to her first novel. This Critical Companion introduces readers to the life and works of Dominican American writer Alvarez and examines the thematic and cultural concerns that run through her novels. Full literary analysis is provided for each, including historical context for the factually based works, In the Time of the Butterflies (1994) and In the Name of Salomé (2000). A brief biography and a chapter on the Latino novel help students to understand the personal and literary influences in Alvarez's writing.    This first full-length treatment of Julia Alvarez discusses her entire canon of writings including her poetry, short stories, children's fiction and nonfiction. The four novels are analyzed fully, each discussed in its own chapter with sections on plot, character development, literary device, thematic issues and narrative structure. Cultural and historical contexts of the work are also considered, and alternate critical perspectives are given for each novel. A select bibliography makes this volume a valuable research tool for students, educators and anyone interested in Latino literature.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50347757863185,"sku":"CIN0313309930G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52337595875601,"sku":"NLS9780313309939","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313309930.jpg?v=1751984947"},{"product_id":"pat-conroy-book-landon-c-burns-9780313294198","title":"Pat Conroy","description":"No one who has read Pat Conroy's novels of family wounds and healing can fail to be moved by their emotional appeal. But Conroy is also a major contemporary American novelist who follows in the tradition of Southern fiction established by William Faulkner and Thomas Wolfe. This companion is the first book-length study of his work. It explores the recurring motifs in his fiction and his special writing talents as a prose stylist of uncommon distinction. A separate chapter for The Boo and The Water Is Wide and each novel - The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides, and his most recent, Beach Music - provides a detailed analysis of the books and the common threads that unite all the novels. A biographical chapter draws connections between Conroy's life and the autobiographical nature of his fiction. A chapter on genre traces Conroy's roots in Southern fiction and shows how all the novels fall into the rite-of-passage genre. Each novel is analyzed for plot structure, characterization, thematic elements, and Conroy's increasingly elaborate style and development as a master of the art of the novel. In addition, Burns defines and applies a variety of alternative approaches to the novels to widen the reader's perspective. A complete bibliography of Conroy's fiction as well as selected reviews and criticism complete the work. Because of Pat Conroy's popularity among adults and teenagers, this first critical work of a major contemporary American writer is a necessary purchase for public and secondary school libraries.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50349488242961,"sku":"CIN0313294194G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51333495882001,"sku":"CIN0313294194A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52487964524817,"sku":"NLS9780313294198","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313294194.jpg?v=1751985758"},{"product_id":"anne-rice-book-jennifer-smith-9780313296123","title":"Anne Rice","description":"Horror novelist Anne Rice explores philosophical questions of life, death, evil and the meaning of existence in her work. This text provides an analysis of her vampire, witch and mummy novels with subsections on point of view, plot, character, theme and literary device.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50349505904913,"sku":"CIN031329612XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50587473412369,"sku":"GOR005748884","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52617683665169,"sku":"NLS9780313296123","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52728632508689,"sku":"CIN031329612XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/031329612X.jpg?v=1751070877"},{"product_id":"jamaica-kincaid-book-lizabeth-paravisini-gebert-9780313302954","title":"Jamaica Kincaid","description":"With the publication of her novel Annie John in 1985, Jamaica Kincaid entered the ranks of the best novelists of her generation. Her three autobiographical novels, Annie John,  Lucy, and Autobiography of My Mother, and collection of short stories, At the Bottom of the River, touch on the universal theme of coming-of-age and the female adolescent's need to sever her ties to her mother. This angst is couched in the social landscape of post-colonial Antigua, a small Caribbean island whose legacy of racism affects Kincaid's protagonists. Her fiction rewrites the history of the Caribbean from a West Indies perspective and this milieu colors the experiences of her characters.  Following a biographical chapter, Paravisini-Gebert traces the development of Kincaid's craft as a writer. Each of the novels and the collection of short stories is discussed in a separate chapter that includes sections on plot, character, theme, and an alternate critical approach from which to read the novel, such as feminist. A complete primary and secondary bibliography and lists of selected reviews of Kincaid's work complete the study.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50349551321361,"sku":"CIN0313302952G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52336833298705,"sku":"NLS9780313302954","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313302952.jpg?v=1751985756"},{"product_id":"james-patterson-book-joan-kotker-9780313320859","title":"James Patterson","description":"Since the publication and cinematic success of 1992's \u003ci\u003eAlong Came a Spider\u003c\/i\u003e, James Patterson seems to have taken up permanent residence on the bestseller lists. In the ensuing decade, his hit detective novels, with memorable nursery rhyme titles like \u003ci\u003eCat and Mouse\u003c\/i\u003e, (1997) and \u003ci\u003ePop! Goes the Weasel \u003c\/i\u003e(1999), came in rapid-fire succession and generated similar popularity and praise. His \u003ci\u003eAlex Cross\u003c\/i\u003e series created one of the most recognizable detectives in literature, and one of the first urban African American detectives to appeal, on such a grand scale, to audiences of all demographics. With full literary analyses of ten of his most popular works of fiction, this critical companion offers readers a chance to more fully explore Patterson's writings. Beginning with his 1976 bestseller \u003ci\u003eThe Thomas Berryman Number\u003c\/i\u003e and moving chronologically to 2002's \u003ci\u003e2nd Chance\u003c\/i\u003e, each chapter examines elements of plot, character development, theme, and critical perspectives.\n\nA full chapter offers a delving biographical study of Patterson, including a brief timeline, that traces his early literary and personal interests and later professional achievements. Another chapter discusses the genres of detective and mystery writing, and situates Patterson 's contributions within this framework. Patterson's sociological writings are also considered. Whether for personal pursuits or school assignments, this volume provides ample insight and extensive bibliographic information on Patterson's work, including critical sources and reviews.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50349693894929,"sku":"CIN0313320853G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50349697728785,"sku":"CIN0313320853VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313320853.jpg?v=1750940828"},{"product_id":"robin-cook-book-lorena-laura-stookey-9780313295782","title":"Robin Cook","description":"Like Arthur Conan Doyle before him, best-selling novelist Robin Cook has turned from the practice of medicine to that of writing popular suspense fiction. Widely recognized as the Master of the Medical Thriller, Cook uses the medium of the popular novel to address a range of social issues: environmental pollution, gender inequality in the workplace, the risks inherent in the common practice of secrecy in science research, and above all, the ramifications of medicine's transition from profession to corporate industry. This study analyzes in turn each of Cook's medical thrillers, from Coma toContagion.    Following a biographical chapter, the genre chapter examines the ways in which Cook's medical thriller incorporates plotting conventions and strategies borrowed from such popular literary genres as the science fiction novel, the murder mystery, and the gothic romance. Each novel is then examined in a separate chapter with subsections on plot, character, and theme. Stookey also offers an alternative critical approach to the novel, which gives the reader another perspective from which to read and discuss the text. A complete bibliography of Cook's fiction, general criticism and biographical sources, and listings of reviews of each novel complete the work. The only study of one of America's most popular contemporary novelists, read by adults and young adults alike, this is a key purchase for schools and public libraries.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50406421725457,"sku":"CIN0313295786G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51320947933457,"sku":"CIN0313295786A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52342018048273,"sku":"NLS9780313295782","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313295786.jpg?v=1751632431"},{"product_id":"amy-tan-book-edelma-d-huntley-9780313302077","title":"Amy Tan","description":"Amy Tan has established a reputation as a major novelist of not only the Asian American experience but the universal experience of family relationships. With the publication of her first novel, The Joy Luck Club in 1988, which touched the hearts of millions of readers, Tan joined the ranks of major contemporary novelists. Adapting her brand of Chinese traditional talk story as a vehicle for exploring the lives of the mothers and daughters at the center of her novels, Tan allows readers to experience the lives of her characters from multiple perspectives in parallel and intersecting narratives. In this first full-length study of her work, E.D. Huntley explores the fictional worlds Tan has created in her three novels, The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and The Hundred Secret Senses.    A biographical chapter discusses the relationship of Tan with her own mother and its influence and that of her family on the subject matter of her novels. A chapter on Tan's literary heritage places her squarely in the tradition of Asian American literature. Each novel is discussed in a separate chapter and includes sections on plot development, character development, narrative structure, literary devices, setting, and major themes. Each chapter also includes an alternative critical reading from which to approach the novel to help readers see the novel in a different light. A complete bibliography of Tan's writings, writings about her work, and a list of reviews of each novel completes the work. This study is the ideal guide for students and readers of Tan's novels.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50497819246865,"sku":"CIN0313302073G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313302073.jpg?v=1751196300"},{"product_id":"kurt-vonnegut-book-thomas-marvin-9780313314391","title":"Kurt Vonnegut","description":"The Literary Contexts section, devoted to examining issues of genre, influences and themes in Vonnegut's writing, adds to a fuller understanding of the man and his literary works.  This exceptionally well-written Critical Companion will help students and interested readers appreciate Vonnegut's most important and popular novels.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50735208268049,"sku":"GOR010713145","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51327019057425,"sku":"CIN031331439XA","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52339120767249,"sku":"NLS9780313314391","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52437510226193,"sku":"CIN031331439XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/031331439X.jpg?v=1750877665"},{"product_id":"isabel-allende-book-karen-c-cox-9780313316951","title":"Isabel Allende","description":"Isabel Allende garnered immediate attention and international acclaim with the 1982 publication of House of Spirits. Allende drew favorable comparisons to male Latin American writers who were dominating a boom movement that mixed political and magical themes. Yet her engaging epic became a bestseller based on its artistic merit, regardless of gender issues, and her ensuing output of fiction and nonfiction continued to establish her esteemed place in the literary ranks. This Critical Companion introduces readers to Allende's writings with accessible literary analysis of her six novels, featuring discussions of plot, character development, thematic concerns and style, historical contexts, and alternative critical perspectives.  A fascinating biographical chapter traces Allende's journey from wife, mother, and journalist in Chile to internationally acclaimed author. Her life story—as stimulating as her novels—offer students and readers a better understanding of the historical and political forces that informed her work. The Literary Heritage chapter provides will deepen readers' appreciation for Allende's contributions to, and place in, the Latin American literary tradition. A select bibliography includes reviews and resources that will be especially useful for student research projects.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51085703348497,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51085705249041,"sku":"GOR006158017","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52148101382417,"sku":"NLS9780313316951","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313316953.jpg?v=1751439266"},{"product_id":"tony-hillerman-book-john-reilly-9780313294167","title":"Tony Hillerman","description":"This is a study of the narrative techniques and thematic investigations of Hillerman's detective fiction which illuminates the way he has crafted a new and profound method for understanding the conditions of modern life. Areas such as setting, plot, generic conditions and themes are covered.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51415646044433,"sku":"CIN031329416XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52341972959505,"sku":"NLS9780313294167","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/031329416X.jpg?v=1751389797"},{"product_id":"anne-mccaffrey-book-robin-roberts-9780313294501","title":"Anne McCaffrey","description":"The first woman to win the Hugo award (given annually by the World Science Fiction convention) and the Nebula award (given annually by the Science Fiction Writers of America), Anne McCaffrey has invented many worlds of science fiction that have made her work enormously popular. Her series The Dragonriders of Pern has become one of the most widely read series in science fiction history. This is the first complete critical study of her work. It examines all of her novels to date, both individual and series, and reveals why she deserves the critical recognition and popularity her works have received. Roberts explores the range and complexity of her novels and the recurrent themes that have attracted so many young adults to her work: the heroine as outsider, the need for tolerance and the acceptance of difference, the importance of living harmoniously with nature, and the value of art and literature.  McCaffrey's contributions to science fiction are many, including the creation of scientifically engineered dragons, brain ships, and scientifically explained mental powers such as telepathy and telekinesis. Roberts shows how McCaffrey's extrapolation of science raises social issues and causes us to think about the future. Each chapter in this study deals with an individual novel or series and features sections on genre, plot, theme, and character development. In addition, Roberts defines and applies a variety of theoretical approaches to the works—feminist, Marxist, environmental, psychoanalytic, and mythic—to widen the reader's perspective on the works. The study also features a chapter on McCaffrey's life, including an interview with the author, and a chapter defining the science fiction genre and McCaffrey's place in it. A complete bibliography of McCaffrey's fiction and bibliography of reviews and criticism complete the work. Because of her great popularity among teenagers and adults, this study is a necessary purchase by secondary schools and public libraries.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51330467299601,"sku":"CIN031329450XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52127621939473,"sku":"NLS9780313294501","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/031329450X.jpg?v=1751460914"},{"product_id":"rudolfo-a-anaya-book-margarite-fernandez-olmos-9780313306419","title":"Rudolfo A. Anaya","description":"A study of the seven novels of Rudolfo A. Anaya in the context of the Chicano Literary Tradition. It includes a chapter on Anaya's life, a chapter on Anaya and the Chicano Literary Tradition, and a chapter on each novel, showing the patterns and variations of literary devices in his work.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51334380749073,"sku":"CIN0313306419VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51885369458961,"sku":"CIN0313306419G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52350732665105,"sku":"NLS9780313306419","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313306419.jpg?v=1752057034"},{"product_id":"margaret-atwood-book-nathalie-cooke-9780313328060","title":"Margaret Atwood","description":"This book offers readers a concise introduction to Atwood's published novels and the central themes motivating her writing. The volume starts with an overview of the author's biography and the relationship of her writing to relevant literary traditions. Because Atwood is internationally renowned, many commentaries ignore the Canadian roots of her work. Cooke corrects this oversight by sketching the ways in which her work is shaped by, and has shaped, the Canadian literary scene. As the author of a full-length Atwood biography, Cooke is able to summarize feminist, Canadian nationalist, and postmodern influences on Atwood's work and on her development as a writer. The book offers close scrutiny of three illustrative works: Cat's Eye as the artist novel, The Handmaid's Tale as a dystopian novel, and The Blind Assassin as a villainess novel.  This book extends the dialogue surrounding Atwood's work in several important ways. As a book written by a Canadian about a Canadian writer, it illustrates how readings of Atwood's work can be significantly enriched through attention to the Canadian literary and cultural context. Noting that Atwood's work not only entertains but also challenges and disturbs, it argues that all of Atwood's novels can be read as satires that expose society's double standards. By locating the beginnings of satire as far back as Atwood's first published novel, and tracing it in Atwood's later novels as the impulse behind challenges to character (in the artist novels), setting (in the dystopic fiction), and plot (in the villainess novels), this study provides a startlingly original interpretation of The Blind Assassin and new insights into the earlier novels.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51389257285905,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51389257351441,"sku":"GOR001959783","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52595051921681,"sku":"NLS9780313328060","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313328064.jpg?v=1751459286"},{"product_id":"colleen-mccullough-book-mary-j-demarr-9780313294990","title":"Colleen McCullough","description":"Although best known for The Thorn Birds, her blockbuster family saga set in her native Australia, Colleen McCullough is a versatile novelist who has written in a variety of genres. This is the first full-length examination of her work. It highlights her versatility and her refusal to be confined to any one genre or type of writing, even though that refusal has lost her part of the wide readership she gained with ^IThe Thorn Birds^R. DeMarr discusses, analyzes, and evaluates each of McCullough's eight novels in turn, relates it to the genre to which it belongs, and compares it to her other work. This study also features a biographical chapter and a chapter which discusses the variety of genres in which McCullough has written.    DeMarr shows how McCullough's romances (Tim and The Ladies of Missalonghi) and her other novels which make heavy use of romance elements (The Thorn Birds and An Indecent Obession) differ dramatically from each other. She also compares McCullough's novels of ideas (A Creed for the Third Millennium^ and the three recent historical novels set in ancient Rome, The Masters of Rome series). Each novel or series is discussed in a separate chapter, which contains sections on plot development and structure, character development, setting, style, and themes. Each novel is also examined from an alternate critical approach, such as feminist, allegorical, anti-generic, and deconstructionist criticism, to widen the reader's perspective. A complete bibliography of McCullough's work, general criticism, and listings of reviews of each novel complete the work. This work will be of particular interest to public and school libraries.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51488145441041,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51488146358545,"sku":"CIN0313294992A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52475968618769,"sku":"NLS9780313294990","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313294992.jpg?v=1751457877"},{"product_id":"leon-uris-book-kathleen-s-cain-9780313302312","title":"Leon Uris","description":"In eleven novels written over four decades, Leon Uris has chronicled the unceasing fight of dedicated individuals against the forces of oppression, in particular fascism, communism, and imperialism. In the tradition of the historical novel, Uris sets his work during times of crisis (World War II, the founding of Israel, the Irish fight for independence), providing his plots with both political and social tensions as well as personal conflicts. Uris's themes include the indomitability of the human spirit, the power of patriotism, and the restorative capacity of romantic love. Through an exploration of these plots, themes, and characters, this study recognizes Leon Uris as a writer whose examination of good and evil in the context of contemporary history raises important issues that have confronted us all.  This study is the first full-length examination of the work of Leon Uris. Following a biographical chapter that discusses his work in light of his personal history, the study devotes a chapter to his place in the tradition of the historical and political novel. Each of Uris's novels is discussed in an individual chapter: Battle Cry (1953), The Angry Hills (1955), Exodus (1958), Mila 18 (1961), Armageddon: A Novel of Berlin (1963), Topaz (1967), QB VII (1970), Trinity (1976) and Redemption (1995), The Haj (1984), and Mitla Pass(1988). Each novel is analyzed for plot structure, characterization, and thematic elements. In addition, Cain defines and applies an alternative critical perspective from which to read each novel. A complete bibliography of Uris's writing, along with a listing of secondary sources and critical reviews of his work completes the study.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51688668266769,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51688672067857,"sku":"NGR9780313302312","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52339243483409,"sku":"NLS9780313302312","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313302316.jpg?v=1751985251"},{"product_id":"james-clavell-book-gina-macdonald-9780313294945","title":"James Clavell","description":"Until now, popular novelist James Clavell has not been recognized for his literary achievements and his contributions to cross-cultural understanding. This critical study seeks to rectify that omission. It shows how Clavell's depiction of cross-cultural encounters of Westerners with the East paves the way for modern multicultural studies. His novels about culture clash help Western readers see with Eastern eyes by taking them into the minds and culture of the Chinese, Japanese, and Iranians. The study provides close textual analysis of each of his novels in turn and shows how Clavell contrasts the manners, values and lifestyles of Easterners and Westerners in a narrative style that combines a number of literary genres and traditions to create a blockbuster of breadth and depth.  This study analyzes all of Clavell's fiction: King Rat, Tai-Pan, Shogun, Noble House, Whirlwind, and Gai-Jin. Each chapter discusses one novel and is divided into sections on plot and structure, character development, themes, historical foundations, genre conventions, and alternative perspectives from which to read the novel. A biographical chapter illuminates the influence of Clavell's life experiences on his writing. A chapter on his literary heritage discusses the influence of a variety of genres on his fiction and shows how he weaves a multiplicity of genre threads into a subtle, complex, inviting tapestry of Eastern and Western styles. A genealogy table schematizing the complex family relationships that interlock Clavell's novels and a glossary of foreign language words used in his novels will help the reader to move easily through his canon. This work will help students and general readers to appreciate the cross-cultural aspects of the craft of Clavell's fiction. A key purchase for secondary school, public, and community college libraries.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51688668922129,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51688672657681,"sku":"NGR9780313294945","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52476515123473,"sku":"NLS9780313294945","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313294941.jpg?v=1751196298"},{"product_id":"stephen-king-book-sharon-a-russell-9780313294174","title":"Stephen King","description":"One of the most prolific and popular contemporary novelists, Stephen King has a devoted following of captivated readers. This is the first critical work on King to examine his most recent novels, Dolores Claiborne, Insomnia, and Rose Madder, and to analyze the many threads of his fiction in a way that is accessible to young adults and general readers. It is designed to help the reader understand the carefully organized narrative structure of his novels, the relation of his fiction to the horror and science fiction genres and to each other, character development, and stylistic and thematic concerns that recur and evolve throughout his work. Following a biographical chapter that links his life to the development of his fiction, Russell offers an overview chapter on all his novels. Individual chapters examine nine representative novels: in addition to the three mentioned above, Russell examines Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Stand, The Dark Half, The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands, and Needful Things. A complete bibliography of all Stephen King's work, critical sources, and a listing of reviews of the novels examined in depth complete the work.  Each chapter deals with one novel and includes sections on plot and narrative structure, character development, and thematic concerns. While concentrating on the elements of each novel, Russell also draws comparisons to other novels in King's canon and points out their developmental relationship. She shows how King uses horror, science fiction, and suspense to explore human relationships, how he expands traditional approaches to genre by combining elements of the various genres in his fiction, and how he has continued to grow as an artist throughout his career. Each novel is also examined from an alternative critical approach, which offers the reader an additional perspective from which to read it. Because it is the only critique of King to deal with his recent novels and has been designed for young adults and general readers, this critical companion will be a key purchase for school and public libraries.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51688669053201,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51688672854289,"sku":"NGR9780313294174","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52126313513233,"sku":"NLS9780313294174","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53449087844625,"sku":"CIN0313294178G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53739150508305,"sku":"CIN0313294178VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313294178.jpg?v=1750739582"},{"product_id":"ernest-j-gaines-book-karen-carmean-9780313302862","title":"Ernest J. Gaines","description":"A complete bibliography of Gaines' fiction, as well as selected reviews and criticism, completes the study.  Following a biographical chapter on Gaines' life, an overview of his fiction explores his work in light of his literary heritage and use of genre.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51688669282577,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51688672887057,"sku":"NGR9780313302862","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52126878892305,"sku":"NLS9780313302862","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0313302863.jpg?v=1751464142"},{"product_id":"tom-clancy-book-helen-s-garson-9780313295058","title":"Tom Clancy","description":"In Clancy's eight novels, discussed and analyzed in separate chapters, we see both the emerging hero and the changing author.  Garson provides close examination of each of Clancy's eight novels, helping the reader with explication of Clancy's wide-ranging and often difficult subject matter.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52121744965905,"sku":"NLS9780313295058","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313295058.jpg?v=1757434335"},{"product_id":"ursula-k-le-guin-book-susan-m-bernardo-9780313332258","title":"Ursula K. Le Guin","description":"Though science fiction has existed as a literary genre for well over a century, a working definition of the term has yet to be determined. Ursula K. Le Guin, who emerged as a popular science fiction and fantasy writer in the 1960s, has not only witnessed, but also experienced first-hand the shifts and transformations of this increasingly popular genre. Delve into her fantastical worlds and investigate several of her famous works in this study ideal for high school and undergraduate students. Learn about the author's life and decade-spanning career, as well as her numerous literary achievements. This comprehensive analysis of Le Guin's work will leave readers anxious for her future endeavors.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52125702684945,"sku":"NLS9780313332258","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313332258.jpg?v=1757467841"},{"product_id":"erich-segal-book-linda-de-roche-9780313299308","title":"Erich Segal","description":"From Love Story in 1970 to Prizes, his most recent bestseller, Erich Segal has created a body of fiction that testifies to the importance of traditional values and virtues in contemporary life. To drive home his views, Segal revitalizes the sentimental novel, which evokes emotion to assert moral precepts. This study, the first full-length examination of his work, explores the development of his art and analyzes each of his seven novels in turn. Pelzer shows how Segal's novels explore the parent-child relationship, the price of success, the importance of love, marriage, and human commitment, and the temptations and pressures that make it difficult for the individual to live rightly.    A biographical chapter discusses Segal's career as a novelist and an academic. A chapter on genre examines his fiction in the tradition of the sentimental novel. Each novel is discussed in a separate chapter and analyzed for plot structure, characterization, thematic elements, literary devices, and style. In addition, Pelzer defines and applies a variety of alternative critical approaches to the novels to widen the reader's perspective. A complete bibliography of Segal's work as well as selected reviews and criticism complete the volume. In this study Pelzer shows how both Segal's short, sentimental tales of love and loss and his multi-character sagas, which range wide in time and place, tap into the deeply held beliefs of his readers and assert traditional values. It is this reaffirmation of values that is the source of his popular appeal to American readers.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52133718753553,"sku":"NLS9780313299308","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313299308.jpg?v=1757532745"},{"product_id":"terry-mcmillan-book-paulette-richards-9780313305047","title":"Terry McMillan","description":"The tremendous universal appeal of Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale took the book world by storm. With her third novel finally earning her the recognition and respect she richly deserved, Terry McMillan followed up with How Stella Got Her Groove Back, which continued to attract new and loyal fans from all walks of life. In this critical work Richards places these inspirational works, as well as McMillan's earlier writings, in their deserved cultural and literary context. Richards offers an insightful analysis of McMillan's narrative technique, which, while having roots in the blues aesthetic, has created a voice that sings out to readers across the lines of sex and race. McMillan's stories are inhabited by strong, dynamic African American women, yet these characters have universal lessons of life and love to share with all readers who appreciate good fiction.    A richly drawn biographical chapter examines the life of McMillan and the influences her own personal experiences have exerted on her writings. In the following chapter, Richards discusses McMillan's place in the literary tradition in which such writers as Zora Neale Hurston paved the way and inspired McMillan to write realistic, yet humorous accounts of the African American romantic experience. Richards devotes a chapter to each of McMillan's first four novels; Mama (1987), Disappearing Acts (1989), Waiting to Exhale (1992), and How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1996). She discusses each novel in terms of plot, narrative style, character development, thematic issues, historical and cultural context, and alternative critical perspective. The comprehensive bibliography, including a list of reviews and index, covers the movie adaptations as well as the books.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52135293354257,"sku":"NLS9780313305047","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313305047.jpg?v=1757548300"},{"product_id":"revisiting-john-grisham-book-mary-beth-pringle-9780313323355","title":"Revisiting John Grisham","description":"John Grisham is one of the most prolific and beloved mystery writers today, still reaching the top of the bestseller lists with books like The Testament (1999) and King of Torts (2003). In recent times, he has also experimented with different genres, such as A Painted House (2001), a semi-autobiographical work, and Skipping Christmas (2001), a holiday narrative. This volume follows up the critical analysis of Grisham's work in John Grisham: A Critical Companion, examining his writing from 1997 to the present.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52138361159953,"sku":"NLS9780313323355","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313323355.jpg?v=1757562313"},{"product_id":"garrison-keillor-book-marcia-songer-9780313302305","title":"Garrison Keillor","description":"Combining a career in live radio performances and equally lively short story writing for the New Yorker,  Garrison Keillor has continually charmed fans and readers with his homespun wit and warmth. While acknowledging his career highlights, this full-length critical study supports Keillor's own view of himself as writer rather than performer, by examining his literary accomplishments and giving serious analysis of his fictional works. In order to understand his tremendous popular appeal, Songer situates Keillor within the rich literary heritage associated with American humorists such as Mark Twain, James Thurber, and Will Rogers. This volume treats each collection of stories as a cohesive literary entity, from the early works Happy to be Here and Lake Wobegon Days, whose familiar characters concerned themselves with social pressures and teenage angst, to The Book of Guys, which wryly examines the pitfalls of the modern male experience. In analyzing Keillor's most recent work, the novel Wobegon Boy,  Songer expertly explores Keillor's humorous handling of real life lessons to be learned from the small town legacy.    This full-length critical study gives readers a close-up view of Garrison Keillor as he reinvents himself from a shy, small town Minnesota native son, to a successful New York writer who is internationally recognized as the voice of everyman. The well documented biographical and literary heritage chapters familiarize readers with the myriad of literary, social, religious and moral influences that would become thematic materials for Keillor's fiction writing. Each chapter in this Critical Companion examines closely the character development, plot structure, and thematic concerns that tie together each of Keillor's major works and short story collections. Literature students and teachers alike will also find very useful the extensive bibliography with a complete list of all of Keillor's writings as well as reviews, criticism, and further biographical information about this delightful writer.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52151722213649,"sku":"NLS9780313302305","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313302305.jpg?v=1757614301"},{"product_id":"john-grisham-book-mary-beth-pringle-9780313296376","title":"John Grisham","description":"Following a biographical chapter that focuses on Grisham's childhood, education, political career and development as a writer, this work examines the legal thriller, its antecedents and Grisham's contribution to the genre. An individual chapter is devoted to analysis of each of his novels.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52152256528657,"sku":"NLS9780313296376","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52633671401745,"sku":"CIN0313296375G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313296376.jpg?v=1757616062"},{"product_id":"james-a-michener-book-marilyn-s-severson-9780313295386","title":"James A. Michener","description":"In a career writing fiction that spans more than 40 years, James A. Michener has refined the art of telling an engrossing story while presenting massive amounts of factual information. His narratives are characterized by an acute sense of place and important themes such as human tolerance, the relationship between human beings and their environment, and the value of human courage and hard work. This study is the first to assess and analyze his fictional work in more than ten years and discusses his recent fiction, as well as his important historical fiction. The work features a biographical chapter, an overview of his fictional works, and close, critical readings of nine of his most noted novels which will be of special interest to students of American history.    An opening chapter discusses his life, including his childhood, education, travels, and the path that led him to become a premier storyteller. The overview chapter examines the characteristics of his fiction and general thematic concerns and offers brief consideration of the novels not analyzed in indivual chapters. The remaining eight chapters focus on individual novels: The Fires of Spring, Hawaii, Centennial, Chesapeake, The Covenant, Space, Texas, Alaska, and Miracle in Seville. Each novel is analyzed for plot structure, characterization, and thematic elements. In addition, Severson defines and applies alternative critical perspectives from which to read the novel. A complete, up-to-date bibliography of Michener's fiction and bibliography of reviews and criticism complete the work. This up-to-date critique of Michener's work will supercede the out-of-date works on the public library shelf and will support the secondary school interdisciplinary American history\/literature curriculum.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52337728028945,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52337728651537,"sku":"NLS9780313295386","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313295386.jpg?v=1758167571"},{"product_id":"james-herriot-book-michael-rossi-9780313294495","title":"James Herriot","description":"A study of the life and literary work of James Herriot. This text considers Herriot's vision of the mutual dependence between all creatures - human and animal - and looks at each of his five major books. Plot development, narrative structure, character development and thematic issues are examined.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52337732452625,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52337733075217,"sku":"NLS9780313294495","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313294495.jpg?v=1758167586"},{"product_id":"howard-fast-book-andrew-f-macdonald-9780313294938","title":"Howard Fast","description":"Howard Fast, one of the most prolific American writers of the 20th century, has enjoyed wide popularity for his writing and suffered from great notoriety for his politics, but has never been given full credit for his contribution to the essential tales of American culture, the American Revolution, and immigrant acculturation.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52338358026513,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52338358518033,"sku":"NLS9780313294938","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313294938.jpg?v=1758168654"},{"product_id":"alice-walker-book-gerri-bates-9780313320248","title":"Alice Walker","description":"Alice Walker, born in Eatonton, Georgia in 1944, overcame a disadvantaged sharecropping background, blindness in one eye, and the tense times of the Civil Rights Movement to become one of the world's most respected African American writers. While attending both Spelman and Sarah Lawrence Colleges, Walker began to draw on both her personal tragedies and those of her community to write poetry, essays, short stories, and novels that would tell the virtually untold stories of oppressed African and African American women, providing readers with hope and inspiring activisim. Perhaps best known for her novel The Color Purple (1982), which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 and became a controversial film three years later, Walker has introduced and developed womanist theory, criticism and practice, and continues to champion the causes of women of color by encouraging their strength and liberation in her life and her writings.    Literary works analyzed in this volume: The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Color Purple, The Temple of My Familiar, Possessing the Secret of Joy, By the Light of My Father's Smile, The Way Forward Is With a Broken Heart, Now is the Time to Open Your Heart.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52339022397713,"sku":"NLS9780313320248","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313320248.jpg?v=1758169306"},{"product_id":"ken-follett-book-richard-c-turner-9780313294150","title":"Ken Follett","description":"Ken Follett had the purest of motives when he began writing fiction: he did it for the money. But after ^IEye of the Needle^R catapulted him to success and secured his reputation as a master of the spy thriller, he both built on that success with other spy thrillers and experimented equally successfully with other genres such as the family saga and the historical romance. This is the first full-length study of his work and it includes individual examinations of each of his major novels, from Eye of the Needle (1978) to A Place Called Freedom (1995), as well as his early novels.    Following a chapter on Follett's life and career, Turner discusses in depth Follett's early novels and his one nonfiction work, On the Wings of Eagles. A genre chapter examines Follett's use of historical settings and his use of the genres of spy thriller, saga, and historical romance in his novels. The rest of the study is devoted to an individual examination of each of his novels in turn, with subsections on plot, character, theme, point of view, and literary devices. Turner also offers an alternative critical approach to reading each novel, such as psychoanalytical, Marxist, or reader response, to give the reader another perspective from which to read and discuss it. A complete bibliography of Follett's fiction, general criticism and biographical sources, and listings of reviews of all the novels examined in the study completes the work. The only study of one of the best-selling writers today, who appeals to adults and young adults alike, this is a key purchase for schools and public libraries.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52340286619921,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52340287176977,"sku":"NLS9780313294150","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313294150.jpg?v=1758170611"},{"product_id":"chaim-potok-book-sanford-sternlicht-9780313311819","title":"Chaim Potok","description":"By examining in depth not only the spiritual elements but also the literary components that make works such as My Name Is Asher Lev (1972) best-sellers, this Critical Companion helps readers gain an appreciation for the considerable literary achievements of Potok.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52427048091921,"sku":"NLS9780313311819","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53345142046993,"sku":"GOR014863146","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313311819.jpg?v=1759159799"},{"product_id":"scott-turow-book-andrew-f-macdonald-9780313331152","title":"Scott Turow","description":"Scott Turow is a novelist, lawyer, and humanist who has fused his two passions, writing and the law, to create challenging novels that raise significant legal issues and test the justice of present laws.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52431431729425,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52431432384785,"sku":"NLS9780313331152","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313331152.jpg?v=1759172494"},{"product_id":"tim-o-brien-book-patrick-a-smith-9780313330551","title":"Tim O'Brien","description":"After growing up in Minnesota and graduating from college, Tim O'Brien received a draft notice and joined the war effort in Vietnam. He chronicled his combat experiences in his memoir If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home, and then went on to write the eight novels that are discussed in this volume. The novels reflect their characters' struggle with the effects of place, namely small-town America, in the Vietnam Era.   Works included in this volume:   If I Die in a Combat Zone   Northern Lights   Going After Cacciato    The Nuclear Age   The Things They Carried   In the Lake of the Woods   Tomcat in Love   July, July","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52431527739665,"sku":"NLS9780313330551","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313330551.jpg?v=1759172787"},{"product_id":"dean-koontz-book-joan-kotker-9780313295287","title":"Dean Koontz","description":"Seven other Dean Koontz novels are examined in comparison to these as well.  A biographical chapter sketches Dean Koontz's background and suggests ways in which growing up as the child of an abusive alcoholic has affected his work. Each chapter deals with one novel in depth while making comparisons to other novels in his canon.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52472240505105,"sku":"NLS9780313295287","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53134029259025,"sku":"CIN031329528XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313295287.jpg?v=1759837825"},{"product_id":"john-saul-book-paul-bail-9780313295751","title":"John Saul","description":"The study includes never-before-published biographical information, drawing an original interview with John Saul, and a chapter on the history of tales of horror and the supernatural and how these genres have influenced Saul's fiction.  Each chapter in this study examines an individual novel.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52478254547217,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52478255595793,"sku":"NLS9780313295751","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313295751.jpg?v=1759846895"},{"product_id":"maxine-hong-kingston-book-edelma-d-huntley-9780313308772","title":"Maxine Hong Kingston","description":"Maxine Hong Kingston's first book, Woman Warrior gained instant popularity and critical success, winning top national literary awards as well as a place on the best seller list. Readers recognized in China Men, a follow up memoir, and Tripmaster Monkey, a genre-defying novel, the same beguiling narrative voice and panoramic prose. This critical study provides an introduction to Kingston's works with in-depth literary analysis of her three long narratives. It helps students understand the important thematic concerns, such as the immigrant acculturalization process and the literary innovations such as the talk story narrative mode introduced by Kingston. Taking readers beyond these works, this volume offers a guided tour through the Asian immigrant experience, and the history of Asian American Literature. This study examines the tremendous cross-over appeal of Kingston's works with readers of all ages, genders, ethnic and national backgrounds.  Readers are introduced to Maxine Hong Kingston with a fascinating biographical chapter. A literary heritage chapter examines not only how Kingston fits into the Asian American literary tradition, but also how her exuberant books helped shape and redefine this important area of literature. A full chapter is devoted to each work, covering all literary components; plot and narrative construction, character development, symbolism, historical context and themes. An alternate critical approach is also given for each work. An extensive bibliography covers works by and about Kingston.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52480410943761,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52480411959569,"sku":"NLS9780313308772","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313308772.jpg?v=1759850180"},{"product_id":"kaye-gibbons-book-mary-j-demarr-9780313319334","title":"Kaye Gibbons","description":"Born to a tobacco farmer in rural North Carolina, Kaye Gibbons found her literary voice by speaking through the strong southern women who inhabit her novels.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52507776975121,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52507777630481,"sku":"NLS9780313319334","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780313319334.jpg?v=1760351007"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-au\/collections\/critical-companions-to-popular-contemporary-writers-book-series.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}