The Best Single Volume Reference Literary Text There Is Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2004 THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY LITERATURE COMPANION is one of those texts that ought to lie prominently on the shelf of anyone who dares to call himself book smart. The list of potential readers is daunting: bibliophiles, poets, novelists, essayists, English literature majors, and even quiz show contestant wannabes. In its 700 plus pages lies a wealth of erudition not found in any other single volume. Editor Anne Skillion has divided the COMPANION into three broad categories: 1) Creators--which includes biographical sketches of the major figures of Western literary history. 2) Works--which covers in surprising detail the output mentioned in (1) above. 3) Literary Facts--which lists the names of the characters in (1) and (2) No one pretends that this volume will have enough information to write say, a scholarly paper on one of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, but for one who wishes to taste the Tales for the first time, one could do worse than start here. Further piquing the interest of the erudite reader is a series of sidebars, which are both delightful and informative: A) Writers on writing B) First books by 10 American writers C) Poets at work (Three things are certain: death, taxes, and the fact that poetry rarely pays the rent) D) The New York Public Library in fiction E) Shortsighted rejection letters (You'd be amazed at what famous works were rejected by publishers) F) Nobel Prize in literature winners (Grouped by country) G) English & American Poets Laureate (Tennyson held this post for 42 years) H) Standard reference books in literary biography I) Memorable opening/closing lines (Useful for those taking the GRE in English) J) Pulitzer Prizes for fiction/poetry/drama K) Influential literary periodicals L) Movie adaptations of novels/plays (Great for viewing just before the lit test) M) Recommended Great Books List (This one is controversial: too many of my favorites were omitted) N) Landmarks in literary censorship (Includes Lolita, Lady Chatterly's Lover, and The Satanic Verses) This COMPANION is one of those vanishingly rare breed of reference books that can be read as often as referenced. It avoids the dry as dust patina of scholarly jargonese that infects and afflicts other and similar texts. If you already have the NORTON ANTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE, then this one is a must buy.