Book Review: Literature and Politics Today: The Political Nature of Modern Fiction and Drama

Abstract

The editor, M. Keith Booker, Professor of English at the University of Arkansas, has served as editor on many reference works in literature as well as many books on genres and literary movements, specific authors, and other critical works. Booker also edited the last reference work dedicated to literature and politics, Encyclopedia of Literature and Politics: Censorship, Evolution, and Writing, a three-volume set published in 2005 by Greenwood, which is surprisingly the only current reference work dedicated solely to examining the connection between literature and politics. There are many recent book-length critical works on literature and politics, but these monographs typically focus on a genre or other refined topic such as a literary movement or single author. The compact single-volume Literature and Politics Today is a welcome addition to reference work in literature and politics. Certainly, other reference works in literary criticism cover some of the topics related to the intersection of politics and literature, but do not have the political focus of Literature and Politics Today.