BEACHAM ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR FICTION PDF
Beacham’s Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: Analysis [Kirk H. Beetz] on Amazon. com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Beacham’s Encyclopedia offers. Beacham’s Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: 14 Volume set: (Includes Biography and Resources, volumes and Analyses volumes ): Beacham’s Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: Analysis, 8 volume set (Vols ) [ Kirk H. Beetz] on *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Beachams .
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Library Locations and Hours. Beacham’s Encyclopedia offers analysis of more than 1, popular works by more than authors. Entries include a summary of the work; analysis of themes and characters; discussion of stylistic techniques and more. The Encyclopedia includes Biography and Resources volumes, offering biographical information on individual authors, and Analyses volumes, discussing individual works. Entries include a summary of the work; analysis of themes and characters; discussion of stylistic techniques; and more.
These two titles provide biographical and critical information on hundreds of writers, many of whom aren’t covered in standard literary reference works. How many novels has Barbara Cartland written? What is Bernard Cornwell’s female pseudonym? This first edition of Contemporary Popular Writers provides information on authors, living and recently deceased, od their works. One could quibble about the selection of the “most popular writers. The format is similar to other St.
James Contemporary titles on novelists, poets, dramatists, etc. Alphabetically arranged entries have biographical data, a bibliography of the author’s works and critical popjlar about the author, and a signed critical essay. Biographical information includes nationality, education, awards, memberships, agent, and address. Bibliographies include locations of manuscript collections. Entries also note media adaptations and theatrical activities. The predominant nationality is American, followed by British.
Besides genres such as romance and mystery, subjects such as humor, literary criticism, social commentary, and women’s issues are indexed. Many of these authors can be found in another St. However, while the biographical and bibliographical information is usually the same, the critical essay is always different.
Beacham’s encyclopedia of popular fiction – Google Books
About half the writers treated are also covered in the Beacham set reviewed below. It contains biographical and bibliographic information on authors and analyses of 1, of their works.
Beacham’s definition of popular stretches to include Kafka and Thomas Mann. Volumes 1 through 3 contain the author entries.
Each contains a list of major works not a complete list, like St. Jamesan essay that summarizes the writer’s life, publishing history, critical reception, and popularity, and an annotated bibliography divided into two sections: The remaining eight volumes contain the 1, critical essays arranged by title.
Each notes the author, genre novel, short storyand publication year. The essays discuss characters, social concerns, themes, techniques, literary precedents, and related titles, and conclude with specific questions for group discussion, a new feature in this series. Essays range from two to eight pages, but relative length doesn’t seem to reflect the significance of the book. According to the publisher, about 50 authors not covered in previous series have been added to this set, and analyses of many new titles have been added.
Some material has been reprinted from the earlier series. For example, much of the biography of Poul Anderson and the analysis of two of his books appeared in the set. However, the bibliography of his works and the list of critical materials have been greatly expanded, and an analysis of one title has been added.
The final volume has several appendixes. One lists the titles with the themes treated; the second takes these same themes and groups titles under them. Others group authors by genre, by era e. Lists of recipients of literary prizes are followed popualr lists of film adapations and Web sites for authors.
Finally, there is an index of authors with their analyzed titles and a master index of interf. Called the “Biography Series,” the first three volumes of this set consist of bio-bibliographic profiles of more than fiction writers, from Chinua Achebe to Roger Zelanzy. Coverage emphasizes contemporary American authors, many of whom are best-seller types not usually included in such works, e.
Beacham’s encyclopedia of popular fiction
The profiles, which average five pages, furnish brief material about the author’s life and career, list the major works, and conclude with selected annotated references. Except for a few short stories, e. Somerset Maugham’s Rain, all the works analyzed are novels. Analyses treat such aspects as characters, social concerns, themes, techniques, and literary precedents and usually end with “Ideas for Group Discussions,” a valuable feature.
Plot summaries are not offered. An index by author of analyzed titles and a master index round out the set. The contributors are mostly American college professors, and all entries are signed. This new set is a quite respectable production, offering a constructive if sometimes uneven critical overview of the world of popular fiction. Some users will wonder why certain writers are included while others are omitted. To correct such disparities and keep the set fresh, the publisher promises one or two supplements each year.
Obviously, the Masterplots series and various Gale multivolume publications e. But smaller libraries unable to afford the larger sets will find Beacham’s a serviceable addition to the reference collection. Written by college faculty, this ambitious endeavor covers a multitude of people, from Pulitzer-prize winners such as Booth Tarkington, to authors of “girls fiction” such as Gene Stratton Porter; from European writers who have influenced the development of the American novel at the beginning of the 20th century, to the strong impact of the Latin American novelists in the s.
Future volumes are planned. Three volumes cover biography and resources and eight volumes are devoted to analyses. A typical analysis of a novel bewcham several columns of text on characters, social concerns, themes, techniques, literary precedents, related titles, adaptations, and ideas for group discussions. Twelve appendixes including web sites on individual authors are designed to help readers identify titles, authors, and themes for research. Unlike more traditional literary sets like American Writers Scribners, or The Chelsea House Library of Literary Criticism, aimed at university-trained readers, the writing here is lively and accessible with bold judgments and conversational asides.
With its annotated lists encycloedia resources for further research, this set is a useful tool for beginning researchers and a handy ready-reference source for book-selection ideas for librarians. Beacham’s combines two common needs among students and scholars: In this already well-populated field, Beacham’s plows a corner devoted to popular fiction. There ficttion be some debate about what constitutes popular fiction, which this work does little to define.
Classic writers of long fiction like Mark Twain and R. Stevenson are included, but not classic ppular of short fiction like O.
Henry or Ambrose Bierce. Beacham’s includes entries for many major popular fiction writers and several minor encylopedia without the mind-boggling abundance of Contemporary Authors or Dictionary of Literary Biography and competes with Masterplots rev.
In attempting to cover so much ground even 11 substantial volumes can seem too few. Far from skimpy, however, the entries include the sections “Characters,” “Themes,” “Social Concerns,” and “Literary Precedents. The “Resources” sections provide annotated citations. Even with its shortcomings, this title is recommended for academic libraries of all sizes.
Beacham’s encyclopedia of popular fiction
Abbott; University of Evansville. These are the latest additions to the set published in [RBB Mr 1 97] and are intended, according to the publisher, as another step toward a “goal of compiling a comprehensive encyclopedia of popular fiction.
It is not just current best-sellers short stories as well as novels encyclppedia those from earlier in this century as well as late in the last.
The three volumes under consideration offer analyses of a variety of works: The signed critical essays, most written by academic specialists, are arranged by title and offer a social context for the work and discussions of themes, characters, techniques, literary precedents, and related titles. Ideas for group discussions are also offered, and in many instances adaptations audiobooks or films are noted. The length of the essays varies from two pages to nearly ten. Writers from the nineteenth and early twentieth encyclopedix now included are Charlotte Bronte, E.
Special features include an appendix grouping themes by title and one grouping titles by themes or social concerns. There is also a cumulative index covering the entire set of authors with analyzed titles. The location of biographical information in the original set is noted; and, for authors new to the set, a reference is made to the Beacham Web page http: A cumulative master index of authors and titles is also provided.
Useful for high-school classroom discussions as well as public library book-discussion groups, this set will also serve academic institutions that support classes in popular culture. The access to updated information via the publisher’s Web site is an attractive feature.
fjction Recommended for high-school, public, and academic libraries where needed. Thank you for using the catalog. The Biography series is numberedthe Analyses series is numbered vol. Appendices, indexes — Popular literature — Bio-bibliography. Fiction — 19th century — Bio-bibliography. Fiction — 20th century — Bio-bibliography.
Summary Beacham’s Encyclopedia offers analysis of more than 1, popular works by more than authors. Booklist Review These two titles provide biographical and critical information og hundreds of writers, many of whom aren’t covered in standard literary reference works. Library Journal Review Called the “Biography Series,” the first three volumes of this set consist of bio-bibliographic profiles of more than fiction writers, from Chinua Achebe to Roger Zelanzy.
Choice Review Popklar combines two common needs among students and scholars: Booklist Review These are encyclpedia latest additions to the set published in [RBB Mr 1 97] and are intended, according to the publisher, as another step toward a “goal of compiling a comprehensive encyclopedia of popular fiction.
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