Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Magill’s Survey of American Literature, rev. ed. Edited by Steven G. Kellman. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, Inc., 2007. 6 vols. 2866 p. $499.00. ISBN 10: 1-58765-285-4.

An additional 73 authors have been added to this revision of the original 1991 publication with its 1994 supplement. Students and teachers will now find Canadians, authors of young adult literature, and more minority and women writers. More than 1/3 of the original entries were given extensive revision and all bibliographies were updated. Black and white photographs of authors are shown and some book jackets accompany the book’s discussion. An inset box gives the birth place and death date with a sentence of introduction. A “Biography” of the author is followed by an analysis of the author’s work. Then individual works have an inset box with title, date when first published, the type of work, and a sentence of introduction to the content with a summary at the end. Each entry has an inset box of discussion topics and an extensive bibliography of books, short stories, nonfiction, and information about the author. Essays are signed and a note is made if someone else did the update. A complete list of contents of the set is found in the front of each volume. The appendixes include a 10-page “Glossary of Literary Terms,” a category list, a title list and an author index. Because each volume has a different author’s color picture on the cover, these photos might serve as a good treasure hunt question for students to find which author is given that prestige on the volume.