Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

World Authors: 2000-2005. Edited by Jennifer Curry, David Ram, Mari Rich, and Albert Rolls. New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 2007. 800 p. $170.00. ISBN 978-0-8242-1077-9.

Another in the World Author Series, this includes 300 novelists, non-fiction writers, poets, dramatists, essayists, scientists, song writers, screen writers and biographers, among others, writing in this time period. For most, a black and white photograph is shown with the author’s name, birth date, and genre. Articles average 3,000 words and provide the writer’s background, experiences which made an impact on their lives, and their literary achievements. Critical analysis of the author’s works is included, and often a note offers where the author is living and something about the family. Often, authors are quoted on what influences in their lives affected their writing. Dan Brown was visiting Rome, “I was beneath Vatican City touring a tunnel called il passetto —a concealed passageway used by the early Popes to escape in event of enemy attack.” He explains this as the basis of Angels and Demons. Articles close with a brief bibliography. This book provides students and teachers with information about new authors in this new millennium, forming a historical record for later years to see if they live up to their promise.