American Literature

Introduction

The present anthology comprises twenty two research papers on different American fiction, poetry and plays. It includes one paper on Black literature and one on Afro-American literature. The major share goes to novel being the most dominant form of literature.

Poetry

However, it includes three papers on poetry of Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens and E.E. Cummings. They represent the two different currents of poetry in America which have yielded significant influence on Indian poetry in English.

Drama

It comprises four papers on dramatist/ drama namely Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun and Willy Loman's Death of a Salesman. Tennessee Williams.

Short Stories

It also includes three papers on short story. The short stories of W.S. Porter, Roald Dahi and Hemingway are perceptively studied here.

Novels and Critical Studies

The synoptic papers on American novels in the twenties, Black English, Afro-American literature and comprehensive studies of individual novelists like Hemingway, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison and Sherwood Anderson besides other papers on novels make it a useful reference book. The novels studied here are A Farewell to Arms, The Bluest Eye, Gone with the Wind, The Good Earth and The Possessing the Secret of Joy.

Conclusion

The twenty two critical essays are remarkable contribution to American Literature in the sense that they present critical responses from a distance of time, place and milieu. I hope the book would be useful for students and researchers of American Literature as well as for general readers.