NOW IN PAPERBACK. In the tradition of E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel and Milan Kundera's The Art of the Novel, How Fiction Works is a scintillating and searching study of the main elements of fiction, such as narrative, detail, characterization, dialogue, realism, and style. In his first full-length book of criticism, one of the most prominent critics of our time takes the machinery of story-telling apart to ask a series of fundamental questions: What do we mean when we say we 'know' a fictional character? What constitutes a 'telling' detail? When is a metaphor successful? Is realism realistic? Why do most endings of novels disappoint? Wood ranges widely, from Homer to Beatrix Potter, from the Bible to John Le Carr‚, and his book is both a study of the techniques of fiction-making and an alternative history of the novel. Playful and profound, it incisively sums up two decades of bold, often controversial, and now classic critical work, and will be enlightening to writers, readers, and anyone interested in what happens on the page.

This is the standard reference guide to the works of Charles Dickens. The material is arranged alphabetically, in dictionary style, and provides a quick means of reference to the plots of the novels and to all the characters and places mentioned in the novels. There are also useful explanatory notes on allusions and phrases

The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction is a comprehensive overview of the history and study of science fiction. It outlines major writers, movements, and texts in the genre, established critical approaches and areas for future study. Fifty-six entries by a team of renowned international contributors are divided into four parts. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the history and the future of science fiction and the way it is taught and studied.

This is an unprercedented literary landmark: the first comprehensive history of American women writers from 1650 to 2000. In a narrative of immense scope & fascination—brimming with Showalter’s wit & incisive opinions—we are introduced to more than 250 female writers. These include not only the famous (Harriet Beecher Stowe, Willa Cather, Flannery O’Connor and Toni Morrison among them), but also many who were once successful & acclaimed yet now are little know, from the early American bestselling novelist Catherine Sedgwick to the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Susan Glaspell. Whether readers agree with the book’s roster of writers, A Jury of Her Peers is an irrestible invitation to discover long lost great wirters, and to return to familiar titles with a deeper appreciation. ‘her prose shimmers with wickedly funny asides...she has produced the most ambitious & brilliantly executed book of her career.’ Joyce Carol Oates.