Michael J. Meyer

learning China from the ground up

The road to Sleeping Dragon

To commemorate To Kill a Mockingbird's 50th anniversary, Meyer has assembled a collection of new essays that celebrate this enduring work of American literature. These essays approach the novel from educational, legal, social, and thematic perspectives.

New Essays

Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

A Re-consideration

The Grapes of Wrath

It can safely be said that when literary texts are utilized or adapted by a musician to create a new work of art, it is seldom that a diminished or lessened product results. Rather, such a merging usually enlarges & enhances both text and tune. These essays offer an analysis of several adaptations, and attempt to assess just what the musicians or writers have modified or changed from to the original as they re-form it into an altogether different media.

Literature and Musical Adaptation

Ever since it was first published in 1937, Of Mice and Men has grown in both popularity and critical esteem. A staple of American literature for more than seven decades, this slender but powerful work by John Steinbeck continues to be studied by high school classes as well as by literary scholars throughout the world. In order to help readers more fully appreciate Of Mice and Men's legacy, Michael J. Meyer has collected some of the most valuable criticism about the novel. Divided by decade, The Essential Criticism of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men provides an overview of the critical responses that span the seventy years the book has been in print. In addition, this volume assembles important articles and book excerpts from critics and reviewers, while also reproducing a number of the early reviews and highlighting some of the most significant studies that have appeared.

The Essential Criticism of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

Literature and the Writer was first conceived with the hope the essays would shed light on several dimensions of the authorial craft. It was the hope of the editor that the selected essays would examine not only writers' choice of vocabulary, but also their deliberate selection of grammatical constructions and word order and their seamless weaving together of plots and imagery. Moreover, the analyses would also draw attention to how the writing process impacts the development of characters and the formulation of thematic strands in fiction. Thus, a wide variety of authors are deliberately selected to give the text depth: writers of popular fiction as well as modern classics are included, and contrasts are established between traditional writers and those who prefer to follow experimental trends. Modernists are set against postmodernists, absurdists vs. realists, minority ethnicities vs. majority cultures, and dominant genders appear in contrast to subordinated ones. Clearly, the major tenet of the collection is that the writing profession provides an unending dilemma that deserves to be explored in more detail as readers try to determine how authorial voices confuse while simultaneously elucidating their audience, how texts are constructed by authors and yet deconstructed by the very words they choose to include, how silence functions as inaudible yet audible discourse; and how authorial self-concept shapes not only itself but is also echoed in the fictional characters / writers who appear in the texts.

Literature and the Writer

Tetsumaro Hayashi

This volume includes over 4000 citations, as well as 15 major new critical studies and 2 new biographies. It includes citations for works published in languages other than English and provides English translations of their titles for quick assessment of their scholarly value.

The Hayashi Steinbeck Bibliography, 1982-1996

Literature and the Grotesque

Literature and Homosexuality

Contains 13 essays, mostly written by American university-based professors of English, Hispanic language and literature, and women's studies, focusing on a variety of themes relating to lesbian and gay literature and the work of gay and lesbian authors. Lacks a subject index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

University Michael Meyer

Brian E. Railsback

Offers alphabetical and topical lists of entries, a Steinbeck chronology, an annotated list of Steinbeck archives, and an introductory essay by Steinbeck biographer Jackson J. Benson.

A John Steinbeck Encyclopedia

Henry Veggian

New and Recent Essays.

East of Eden.

First published in 1937, Of Mice and Men has been a staple of American literature ever since. Divided by decade, The Essential Criticism of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men provides an overview of criticism over the 70 years the book has been in print. Michael J. Meyer has assembled significant articles and book excerpts from critics and reviewers, citing the early book reviews and highlighting some of the most significant essays. While not all critical studies are included, those assessments not present in the text are evaluated by summaries and their bibliographic citations are given. The essays express various critical approaches, including those that criticize the book and examine what some consider the book's flaws. Ideal for research work at all levels, this volume collects in one place the most significant contributions to the study of the novel, making it a welcome addition to the canon of Steinbeck criticism.

The Essential Criticism of John Steinbeck's of Mice and Men

In 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird was published to critical acclaim. To commemorate To Kill a Mockingbird's 50th anniversary, Michael J. Meyer has assembled a collection of new essays that celebrate this enduring work of American literature. These essays approach the novel from educational, legal, social, and thematic perspectives. Harper Lee's only novel won the Pulitzer Prize and was transformed into a beloved film starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. An American classic that frequently appears in middle school and high school curriculums, the novel has been subjected to criticism for its subject matter and language. Still relevant and meaningful, To Kill a Mockingbird has nonetheless been under-appreciated by many critics. There are few books that address Lee's novel's contribution to the American canon and still fewer that offer insights that can be used by teachers and by students. These essays suggest that author Harper Lee deserves more credit for skillfully shaping a masterpiece that not only addresses the problems of the 1930s but also helps its readers see the problems and prejudices the world faces today. Intended for high school and undergraduate usage, as well as for teachers planning to use To Kill a Mockingbird in their classrooms, this collection will be a valuable resource for all teachers of American literature.

Michael J. Meyer

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