The Norton Anthology of American Literature

by Robert S. Levine, Michael A. Elliott, Sandra M. Gustafson

The most trusted anthology for complete works, balanced selections, and helpful editorial apparatus, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Shorter Ninth Edition, features a cover-to-cover revision. General Editor Robert Levine and the four period editors--three of whom are new to the team--have reenergized the anthology. Fresh scholarship, NEW authors and topical clusters, a NEW ebook, and an enriched instructor site make the Norton Anthology an even better teaching tool for instructors and an unmatched value for students.

Genres: College, Read For School, Poetry

Paperback

Published September 7, 2018

About the author

Robert S. Levine (Ph.D. Stanford University 1981) is Distinguished University Professor of English and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Levine is the General Editor of The Norton Anthology of American Literature and is a member of the editorial boards of American Literary History, Leviathan: A Journal of Melville Studies, and J19: The Journal of Nineteenth-Century Americanists.

Reviews

[Autumn]

(NO RATING- TEXTBOOK) I wish there was more time in my class to explore this textbook, but I will definitely be reading on my own. Once again, great excerpts from known and unknown authors. I really enjoy the summaries of what was happening historically in each period (realism, modern, postmodern). It's not overwhelming history and actually applies to literature. Great resource and reading material!

[Sadie Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great anthology! Sometimes I wish there was more background on some of the writers in their intorductions, but there's plenty enough. And some writers have missing popular works that should be included. Regardless of that, it's a comprehensive collection. 4.5 tars!

[jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i barely even made a dent in this book, wow. this was an amazing textbook for my american literature class and i thoroughly enjoyed the stories and poems i did get to read. i’m contemplating buying these anthologies in the future just because they’re such great resources.

*note*
bc i only made it to ~20% i won’t be counting this toward my 2022 reading goal

[Chloe]

As with the other textbooks I read for school, I did not read all 1,000+ pages of this anthology. Nevertheless, I'm still counting it towards my reading challenge, since I spent months studying the various works presented.
There were several texts which I enjoyed reading, and quite a few that I was not fond of. However, all-in-all, this anthology contains many diverse works, and provides a nice window into American Literature following the Civil War.

[Baily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this anthology for my English class, American Literature after 1865, and it was awesome. It has selections that showcased different voices and gave a diverse representation overall.

[Nicolas Rangel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Norton Anthology really slayed with this edition.

[meg (the.hidden.colophon) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my American Literature II course in the Spring of ‘23.

Mark Twain - 1/13/23
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County - 4.5

Ambrose Bierce - 1/16/23
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge - 4

Booker T. Washington - 1/17/23
Chapter XIV of The Atlanta Exposition Address - 3

W.E.B. DuBois - 1/18/23
The Souls of Black Folk: Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others - 4

Walt Whitman - 1/20/23
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry - 1.75

Emily Dickinson 1/23/23
• 122 - 2
• 269 - 4
• 479 - 4.5
• 1577 - 2.5

Zitkala-Ša - 1/25/23
Impressions of an Indian Childhood - 4
The Soft-Hearted Sioux - 4

Wallace Stevens - 1/26/23
The Emperor of Ice Cream - 2

William Carlos Williams - 1/27/23
The Red Wheelbarrow - 5

Ezra Pound - 1/30/23
The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter - 3.25

Marianne Moore - 1/31/23
The Mind is an Enchanting Thing - 1

T.S. Eliot - 2/1/23
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock - 1.75

William Faulkner - 2/3/23
A Rose for Emily - 5

Zora Neale Hurston - 2/4/23
How It Feels to Be Colored Me - 5

Claude McKay - 2/5/23
The Harlem Dancer - 4
Africa - 4.5
America - 3.75

Langston Hughes - 2/8/23
The Negro Speaks of Rivers - 4.25

Maxine Hong Kingston - 2/24/23
from The Woman Warrior: No Name Woman - 4.5

Alice Walker - 2/27/23
from Everyday Use - 3.5

Edward Abbey - 3/16/23
Havasu - 3.75

Barry Lopez - 3/17/23
The Raven - 2

Jamaica Kincaid - 3/18/23
Girl - 5

Hunter S. Thompson - 3/19/23
from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - 3

Joan Didion - 3/20/23
from Slouching Towards Bethlehem - 4.75

Gloria Anzaldúa - 3/20/23
How to Tame a Wild Tongue - 5

David Foster Wallace - 3/21/23
from Consider the Lobster - 4

Edwidge Danticat - 3/22/23
from Bröther, I’m Dying - 3

Don DeLillo - 4/8/23
White Noise: Part II: Toxic Airborne Event - 1.5

Jhumpa Lahiri - 4/12/23
from Sexy - 3

Junot Diaz - 4/12/23
from Drown - 2.75

[Broheros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for my American Literature class my first semester of college, and loved almost everything we read! I’m not adding this to my year in books because I didn’t read everything in this. Also, we used two volumes, and I can’t find the first one we read…

What I read:

* The Iroquois creation story
* King Philip’s speech
* Of Plymouth plantation
* A model of Christian charity
* Poetry from Anne Bradstreet
* Mary Rowlandson captivity story
* Poetry from Edward Taylor
* Sinners in the hands of an angry god
* Remarks concerning the savages of North America
* Equiano narrative
* Phillis Wheatly poetry
* Rip Van Winkle
* An Indian’s looking-glass for the white man
* The American scholar
* The minister’s black veil
* The birth-mark
* Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poetry
* Annabel Lee
* The fall of the house of usher
* Gettysburg address
* Appeal to the Christian women of the south
* Sojourner truth “ain’t I a woman” speech
* Incidents in the life of a slave girl (parts)
* Resistance to civil government
* Walt Whitman’s song of myself
* Emily Dickinson poetry
* The notorious jumping frog of calaveras county
* An occurrence at owl creek bridge
* Desiree’s baby
* The story of an hour
* Up from slavery (parts)
* The wife of his youth
* The yellow wallpaper
* Roman fever
* Mrs. spring fragrance
* The souls of black folk (parts)
* The open boat
* Richard Cory poem
* Neighbor rosicky
* Robert frost poetry
* Trifles
* Carl Sandburg poetry
* William Carlos Williams poetry
* A retrospect by Ezra pound
* Langston Hughes
* The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock
* T.S. Eliot poetry
* Claude McKay poetry
* How it feels to be colored me
* A rose for Emily
* Langston Hughes poetry
* The man who was almost a man
* Good country people
* Recitatif
* How to tame a wild tongue
* Everyday use
* Lullaby by Leslie Marlon silko
* Sherman Alexie poetry

[Jasmine]

Read for school.

I enjoyed all of the stories that I read from this anthology, and the author bios before the selections provided invaluable insight that contextualized the themes of the works. Excellent edition.

[Mads]

🇺🇸🤠🗽🧠

[Bianca (caca) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Idk whatever

[Olivia N]

read for American Literature II:

fiction:
Désirée’s Baby by Kate Chopin
The Goophered Grapevine by Charles Waddell Chesnutt
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain
The Real Thing by Henry James
Editha by William Dean Howells
To Build a Fire by Jack London
Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
Flowering Judas by Katherine Anne Porter
Babylon Revisited by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Barn Burning by William Faulkner
The Man Who was Almost a Man by Richard Wright
Petrified Man by Eudora Welty
Récitatif by Toni Morrison
Cathedral by Raymond Carver
A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

nonfiction:
*From* the Art of Fiction & *From* Editor’s Study by Henry James
*From* What Life Means to Me by Jack London
How it Feels to Be Colored Me by Zora Neale Hurston
*From* Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

poetry:
Persimmons by Li-Young Lee
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry by Walt Whitman
Harlem Dancer, Harlem Shadows, & If We Must Die by Claude McKay
The Weary Blues, I, Too, and America by Langston Hughes
The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Howl by Allen Ginsberg

plays:
Trifles by Susan Glaspell

[Lyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a decent chuck of this text for a college class, and I enjoyed the variety of authors represented. While some of the pieces of writing were very dense and confusing, on the whole I had a fun time exploring different genres and styles and even found some new authors to explore.

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't quite finish this book, but I am sure I will read little excerpts here and there. This was our textbook for my American Literature I class. There are so many authors in this anthology that were never even brought up in any of my high school classes and this is a little bit scary. It felt like everyone in my class had already read all of these authors at some point in their education and I was just sitting there confused.

Some random comments:
I had never read Anne Bradstreet before and I absolutely fell in love with her poems. I was literally crying in my dorm room over her poetry and letters.
I really enjoyed Common Sense. I could see how that pamphlet riled people up.
I need to reread Emerson and Thoreau again because my entire class hated them and completely colored my opinion.
I had never even heard of Harriet Jacobs, but her experience as a slave, specifically a female slave, exposed new horrors of slavery we never really talk about.
Walt Whitman is not my cup of tea.
I didn't like all of Emily Dickinson's poems, but a few of them spoke to me. I was casually tearing up during the lecture...no big deal.

[Verena]

I had to read about half of what is in this book for University and some was good, some wasn't really my thing. I'll leave this without a rating tho because I feel like it's hard to rate these kind of things (especially when I was basically forced to read it). It gave me a good overview of American Literature, it did what it promised.

[Jacqueline Arevalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting short stories that we need to know since their parents of American literature xoxo

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read many for class but not all of them. It’s a good collection, but obviously some are better than others.

[Jacob Longini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Studied for ENGL 3372 - American Literature II - at Loyola Marymount University.