About the Author

Margaret Drabble is one of Britain's leading literary figures, the author of numerous novels, including A Natural Curiosity, The Gates of Ivory, and The Witch of Exmoor. She lives in London.

Reviews

Gr 8 Up-This revision of the sixth edition adds material but not pages. The chronology, awards lists, and entries include works published through 2005, but entries from the previous edition have not been revised; the last case of Internet censorship cited is from 1999. Of the 16 two-page essays on various genres, only 2 have been given slight alterations ("Children's Literature" has lost its condescending conclusion). This edition contains more information on female and ethnically diverse writers. There are some omissions; for example, Alan Furst is left out of the "Spy Fiction" essay, and Martin McDonagh (The Beauty Queen of Leenane) earns only one sentence, in "Irish playwrights, new." "Gay and lesbian literature," which is no longer a separate essay, fails to mention several significant works, though they are treated elsewhere. Altogether absent from the book are authors such as W. G. Sebald, David Mitchell, and Ismail Kadare. Some choices are puzzling: Denise Levertov has twice Richard Wilbur's space; readers are told how to pronounce "Carew," but not "Bewick" (or Coetzee, Milosz, etc.). Flashes of wit-on "horror": "for every King there are a dozen or more knaves"-and verve ("Lads' literature"), leaven the learning. This is still the title to heft if you need elegant plot summaries, or help with anaphora, isocolon, and their ilk. However, for most purposes the previous edition still suffices.-Patricia D. Lothrop, St. George's School, Newport, RI Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

The esteemed, 75-year-old Oxford Companion to English Literature (OCEL), long a reference classic, forms the cornerstone of the foundation on which the ever-expanding edifice of the "Oxford Companion" series rests. Like its predecessors, this revised sixth edition, first published in 2000, contains accurate, up-to-date entries-8500 in all, approximately 200 of them new. These entries, unsigned and ranging in length from a few to more than 2000 words each, cover authors, literary movements and terms, critical theories, genres, publishers, plot summaries, and characters. Drabble's new revision includes numerous additions and deletions, ensuring the standing of OCEL into the 21st century. The additions come from a continuing effort to update the content by including more entries on women and postcolonial writers and on critical theory. To make room for the newer content, some material has been cut: the "general knowledge" entries, coverage of artists and musicians, some entries on characters, entries for individual works of prolific classical authors, and some cross references. What remains is the best available one-volume reference on English literature, not literature in English (though many literatures and authors in languages other than English are treated in the context of English literature). The appendixes include a detailed chronology of English literature from 1000 to 2005 and a historical list of poets laureate and literary awards. Bottom Line Careful selection is so obvious here that citing some of the unavoidable absences seems churlish. The writing is good, even stylish. While still aimed primarily at general readers, this volume offers comprehensive scope and rigorous treatment, making it useful to scholars, students, and journalists as well as to the libraries-large and small, academic and public-serving them. Only libraries on tight budgets holding the fifth or original sixth edition might want to wait for the arrival of a seventh. Highly recommended.-Paul D'Alessandro, Portland P.L., ME Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.