The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms

The Bedford Glossary includes lengthy (and easy-to-follow) discussions of ideas including such biggies as cultural studies, deconstruction, feminist criticism, gender criticism, irony, Marxist criticism, the new historicism, poststructuralism, psychological criticism and psychoanalytic criticism, and reader-response criticism. More obscure terms--anagnorisis, epithalamium, Menippean satire, kenning--receive shorter but equally careful treatment. This is a clear and comprehensive reference for academics, intellectuals, and anyone else who wants to hold forth intelligently on subjects literary and critical. --Jane Steinberg