Classic American Films: Conversations with the Screenwriters

Classic American Films explores the origin and development of many of the most influential and revered films in cinema history, and does so with the aid and insight of the people who actually wrote the screenplays. These lively, candid, in-depth interviews are filled with fascinating new material (details, anecdotes, judgments, and opinions) about the creative and collaborative processes that went into the making of these extraordinary films.

Contemporary American Playwrights

"Bigsby's study helps fill the void in criticism of contemporary American drama and will be useful as introductions to the playwrights for high school students and college undergraduates." Libraries Unlimited

The origins of jazz were in the barrelhouses of New Orleans and the speakeasies of Chicago. By the nineteen fifties, a musical renaissance transformed jazz into a high art form. Paul Lopes shows how the rise of a jazz art world was a unique movement--a socially diverse community of musicians, critics, collectors, producers, and enthusiasts that struggled in various ways against cultural orthodoxy in America. This accessible, interdisciplinary book will be of great interest to scholars and students of sociology, cultural studies, American studies, African-American studies, and jazz studies.

Language in the USA: Themes for the Twenty-first CenturyThis textbook furnishes a comprehensive survey of current language issues in the U.S., exploring the nature of language variation in the United States and its social, historical and political significance. 

The book is divided into three sections: Part I, American English; Part II, Other Language Varieties; and Part III, The Sociolinguistic Situation in the U.S.A.

 "Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition" is an extensive reference work that spans the entire scope of American literature, from the colonial period to the present. Now in four chronological volumes and arranged alphabetically within each volume, this comprehensive encyclopedia includes entries reflecting writers, works, literary movements, and more that high school students and undergraduates are likely to encounter.This major update boasts one new volume, approximately 1,000 new entries, and 300 new black-and-white illustrations.