The Companion to Southern Literature: Themes, Genres, Places, People, Movements, and Motifs (Southern Literary Studies)
This companion contains more than 500 entries on such subjects  as themes, genres, historical events, people, and customs as  they pertain to the literature of the American South, which the  editors define very broadly. For example, there is an entry on  Shakespeare, noting in particular how Prospero, in The Tempest,  might have been seen in the past as the ideal "enlightened slave  owner." Coeditors Flora (English, Univ. of North Carolina,  Chapel Hill; ed., Southern Writers: A Biographical Dictionary)  and MacKethan (English, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh;  Daughters of Time: Creating Women's Voice in Southern Story) are  widely published scholars on Southern literature, and the  contributors are a good mix of scholars, graduate students, and  writers. The alphabetically arranged entries, which generally  provide brief, up-to-date bibliographies, include "Uncle Tom,"  "Rebel Yell," "Scopes Trial," "Elvis," and "Poetry, 1820-1900."  However, because author information is easily found in many  other books, only 14 authors are included here. The simple,  alphabetical table of contents is supplemented by a 22-section  classified table of contents that groups entries by a shared  subject (e.g., music or religion). Unlike The Encyclopedia of  Southern Literature, a more conventional work that focuses on  authors, this unique compilation shoots off in all sorts of  interesting directions. An excellent addition to libraries that  support studies of Southern literature. Peter Dollard, Alma  Coll. Lib., MICopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.