The Seagull Reader: Literature

by Joseph Kelly (Editor)

Ideal for introductory courses, The Seagull Readers offer a compact and affordable alternative to larger anthologies. Each volume includes a broad selection of the most commonly taught classic and contemporary works, as well as a thorough introduction to each genre, author biographies, and concise explanatory annotations.

The comprehensive Literature reader includes the full contents of the Plays, Poems, and Stories readers in one portable volume.

Genres: Fiction, Reference

1243 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2004

Reviews

[David]

A mostly conservative, largely U.S. anthology. Canada is represented by 4 lines from Margaret Atwood. There are some odd quirks; A.E. Houseman is, by comparison to many poets often thought more important, hugely represented, for example. Very little was new to me: no new fictionists and only a handful of poets. The best (for me) inclusion of something new was Hwang's M. Butterfly about which I had heard plenty but never seen or read.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think reading this collection while also being introduced to Arden Shakespeare hurt its chances, but still, not my favorite textbook ever made.

[Maribeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Needed for a class, didn't use much but it's great

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

book was good.

class was not

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good collection of literature. While some anthologies spanning the last two centuries of literature tend to be comprised of the trite list we're use to seeing, this collection showed some surprises. Attention was given to writers from many different places. It opens with short stories, then poems, plays, bios, and then some terms in the back. I wasn't too impressed with the editors attempt to describe the genres in the chapters before each section but overall a good list. For teachers who wants to have a solid collection at their disposal, I would recommend looking into this book.