Alice Walker A Critical Companion

Subjects:

• Literature » American Literature
• Multicultural Studies » Black Studies

Reviews:

• [C]overs all of Walker's major works (1970-2004), specifically The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Color Purple, The Temple of My Familiar, Possessing the Secret of Joy, By the Light of My Father's Smile, The Way Forward Is with a Broken Heart, and Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart: A Novel. The first two chapters provide biographical information and literary context; the latter is particularly well crafted and useful. Bates makes a point of tracing the themes, characters, and events in Walker's novels to her biography. She notes the influence on Walker of her mother and of literary women of color, especially Harriet Wilson and Zora Neale Hurston. Like other books in this series, this one will be particularly useful to those approaching the author for the first time. Recommended. Lower-/upper-division undergraduates; general readers.
  —Choice April 2006
• The book about Walker offers biographical information and literary context in the first two chapters. Bates relates the themes, characters, and events of Walker's novels to her life covering the influence her mother and other literary women of color had on her life.
  —MultiCultural Review Fall 2006
• Are the works of Alice Walker studied in your curriculum? If so, consider this book....Although not all criticism is created equal, this work is as good as any, providing the advanced high school student with substantive materials for analysis....Recommended.
  —Teacher Librarian February 2006
• [A] volume invaluable to understanding her early influences and creations. From her top Color Purple to Meridian and six other works, analysis of her literature, politics, activism and more surveys her feminist theories, practices and impact. Recommended for any college where Alice Walker's works are taught.
  —Midwest Book Review/MBR Bookwatch January 2006

Table of Contents:

• Series Foreword by Kathleen Gregory Klein
• Acknowledgments
• The Life of Alice Walker
• Literary Contexts
• The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970)
• Meridian (1976)
• The Color Purple (1982)
• The Temple of My Familiar (1989)
• Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992)
• By the Light of My Father's Smile (1998)
• The Way Forward Is with a Broken Heart (2000)
• Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart (2004)
• Bibliography
• Index

PDF Catalogs:

Sale Catalog 2008.pdf