Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in the Children's Fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Susan Cooper
A literate, illuminating look at four authors whom Butler calls, important contributors to the formation of a corpus of modern children's literature…capable of bearing the weight of academic scrutiny. All four studied at Oxford while J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis were writing and lecturing, and Butler notes the influences that these men had on each writer. The text is divided into three major sections. Applied Archeology deals with the interplay between past and present, especially as it is played out on the landscape. Longing and Belonging addresses the complex relationship between identity and place. Myth and Magic explores each author's use of traditional literature, especially from the British Isles. Butler convincingly demolishes reductive, issues-oriented critics by explicating and celebrating the artistic choices made by these four masters of their craft. Since many of today's undergraduates grew up with these writers, this important title should not be limited to academic libraries supporting graduate and undergraduate children's literature courses. It belongs in any library that serves a liberal-arts curriculum. It is highly readable, commandingly intelligent, and refreshingly jargon-free. A seminal work of criticism.–Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North AdamsCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.