An encyclopedia designed especially to meet the needs of elementary, junior high, and senior high school students.

African-American writer Richard Wright (1908-1960) was celebrated during the early 1940s for his searing autobiography (Black Boy) and fiction (Native Son). By 1947 he felt so unwelcome in his homeland that he exiled himself and his family in Paris. But his writings changed American culture forever, and today they are mainstays of literature and composition classes. He and his works are also the subjects of numerous critical essays and commentaries by contemporary writers. This volume presents a comprehensive annotated bibliography of those essays, books, and articles from 1983 through 2003. Arranged alphabetically by author within years are some 8,320 entries ranging from unpublished dissertations to book-length studies of African American literature and literary criticism. Also included as an appendix are addenda to the author's earlier bibliography covering the years from 1934 through 1982. This is the exhaustive reference for serious students of Richard Wright and his critics.

In William Golding: Some Critical Considerations, fourteen scholars assess various aspects of the Nobel Prize-winning author's writings. Their essays include criticism of individual works, discussion of major themes and technical considerations, and bibliographical studies. Separately, the essays help us understand the intricacies and impact of Golding's art; together they show the breadth of his purpose.

Describes authors, works, and literary terms from all eras and all parts of the world.

In March 1983 a mass poisoning was reported in the girls' middle school of Arrabeh, a village near Jenin in the West Bank. The malaise recurred in the following weeks in Jenin, Hebron, and other towns in the West Bank. All the sufferers, mainly young Arab women, were hospitalized, but soon released. The toxic agent which allegedly caused the malaise was not found; Israeli authorities concluded that the attacks were caused by mass hysteria. Nonetheless, both local Palestinian authorities and the PLO leadership accused Israel of an attempt of mass poisoning, aiming to affect the women's reproductive system and thus to tamper with the natural growth of the Palestinian population. The accusation was taken up by the media, not only Arab but also in the West (French, British, German, etc.). Once the hoax became apparent, the whole affair disappeared from the media. Compares the "poisoning affair" to blood libels in the past. Raises questions regarding the strange credulity of the Western press, otherwise very cautious in presenting similar affairs in other countries, its anti-Israeli disposition, and its disproportionally great interest in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Contends that the media's incrimination of Israel is a manifestation of its latent antisemitism. Where the Arabs incriminate the Jews as a people, the Westerners, reluctant to look ethnophobic, incriminate the Jewish state. Includes many quotes from the press.

Review: "This unique encyclopedia treats the concepts, persons, themes, and media of 20th-century American humor and humor studies. More than 100 alphabetically arranged entries highlight a broad range of humor-related topics from wit, understatement, and ambiguity to late-night talk shows and the Internet."--"Outstanding Reference Sources," American Libraries, May 2001

Alexandrino Severino helped make the Portugese department at Vanderbilt University one of the best in the nation. His life and work took him to four continents on both sides of the Atlantic world. In addition to seminal books on Fernando Pessoa, Severino published articles on a wide array of topics from language teaching to English literature. This volume of essays is a tribute to a scholar who not only shaped his field of study, but all the people who came into contact with him.