The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature.(Book Review)

The Oxford Encyclopedia of America Literature. Ed. by Jay Parini. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Pr., 2004.4 vols. alkaline $495 (ISBN 0-19-515653-6).

The recently released Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, edited by Jay Parini (Middlebury College), aims to provide a "comprehensive discussion of literary practices within the United States from colonial times to the present" (xiii). Within its four volumes, 350 essays produced by 190 individual contributors examine authors, notable texts, literary movements, genres, institutions, "and--for lack of a better term, aggregations (such as the academic novel or the production of 'little magazines')" (xiii). Geared toward sophisticated high school students, undergraduates, and the intellectually curious reader, The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature is appropriate for most libraries and should …