This is an excellent book for anyone new to literature to get a good overview of what literary studies involve. It introduces the main genres of novel, poetry, drama and film, and how literary approach apply to each genre. There is a short chapter on the key periods of English and American literature. The main literary theories oriented to text, author, reader and context are also included. As it is under 200 pages, you can't except much depth to be covered, but it gives a very concise introduction to the subject area.