Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature
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Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature was published in 1991 by Harper Collins Publishers. It is a hardcover, sturdy binding print source that costs approximately $50. Typical questions that may lead to use of this book include “Where can I find general information about Nathaniel Hawthorne?” and “What is Hearth and Home?”
This book is best suited for the high school and older bracket. It would most likely be used for reports in school, and for a general overview.
The purpose of the book is to give the facts on an author’s life in biographical entries that deal with both that author’s major and lesser works, summarizes the critical consensus, and often lists secondary biographical and critical works.
The book starts with a preface, a notes page, then a list of contributors before going into the encyclopedia that encompasses the rest of the volume. Since the work is so straightforward and easy to use, there is no glossary, table of contents, or index. Everything is explained within the encyclopedia articles themselves. The topics are printed in alphabetical order, just like in a glossary.
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