On the Road (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

Written in vivid detail, Kerouac's autobiographical novel describes the epic trek of his alter-ego Sal Paradise from the East coast to San Francisco; it continues today as the benchmark work of Beat fiction.

The title, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, part of Chelsea House Publishers’ Modern Critical Interpretations series, presents the most important 20th-century criticism on Jack Kerouac’s On the Road through extracts of critical essays by well-known literary critics.

Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

Hemingway's last work published during his lifetime remains one of his most popular and best known. A man's symbolic quest to land the catch of a lifetime engages classic themes of the human struggle against nature as well as explores the intersection of expectation and desire. Filled with fresh essays about the book, the new edition of this invaluable literary guide features a bibliography and notes on the essay contributors, as well as an introductory essay by master scholar Harold Bloom.

Oedipus Rex (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

Written by Sophocles around 425 BCE, "Oedipus Rex, or Oedipus the King" is a classic Greek tragedy in that it depicts the search for self-understanding, and the struggle between man and fate. The story forms the foundation for the symbolic conflict between fathers and sons. Bloom's "Modern Critical Interpretations" offers a range of salient critical viewpoints on this, one of history's most important plays. Thoughtful analyses are supplemented by features that make this resource ideal for those preparing in-depth research papers.

The Odyssey (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

The second of the two great epic poems attributed to Homer, "The Odyssey" takes place after the Trojan War and tells the story of Odysseus' voyage home to Ithaca and his wife, Penelope. Odysseus' journey is a perilous one, for he encounters a wide array of heart-pounding adventures and precarious mythical creatures on his way. Supported by numerous full-length essays, this updated volume offers various critical approaches to exploring this enrapturing tale of magic and heroism.

Nathanael West's Miss Lonelyhearts (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

A book of wicked wit, Miss Lonelyhearts is the saga of a young (male) newspaper advice columnist who grows despondent reading the piles of letters from the broken and the confused. Miss Lonelyhearts takes to sickness for relief until his gruff editor, Shrike, tells him to get over it and turn to Christ, "the Miss Lonelyhearts of Miss Lonelyhearts." This advice propels Miss Lonelyhearts into a period of soul-searching that sends him to both the church and the bottle.