-"Written for high school, college, and university students, these four-volume set addresses the shape and nature of contemporary American literature –focusing on 1980 to the present - in all of its print and post print formats. Womack (English, Penn State, Altoona), who has published widely on 20th-century literary and popular culture, brings together the writings of 64 international scholars on over 70 literary genres.' " —Library Journal

-"This four-volume encyclopedia includes over 70 types of genre literature, from the well established, e.g., historical fiction, to the more recent and emerging genres, e.g., chick lit, zines, and graphic novels. While the focus is on popular American literature, contributors discuss writers from other countries when they are significant in a particular genre... Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers." —CHOICE

-". . . this set is unique in its scope and treatment of the contemporary American literary scene and will prove to be an invaluable supplement to standard references sources on American literature. It is highly recommended for academic and large public libraries." —ARBA

-"Greenwood has published an encyclopedia that is designed to help librarians, general readers, and studentsunderstand contemporary American literature. Its 75 entries give a broad overview of fiction, nonfiction,poetry, drama, and comics since 1980. Each entry includes a definition of the genre, history, recent trendsand prevailing themes, context and related issues, critical and popular reception, selected authors, abibliography, and suggestions for further reading. The set also includes lists of contemporary authors bygenre and a comprehensive index. ...Books and Beyond does an outstanding job of explaining the new fiction genres, nonfiction, and poetry. Although anyone seeking to understand the traditional fiction genres would get more information from Genreflecting (6th ed., 2005) or any of the Libraries Unlimited Genreflecting Advisory Series titles, it could be useful for librarians, as well as for students, because of the variety of literatures it covers. Recommended for public and academic libraries." —Booklist