[close] Both clear and scholarly, this book provides an introduction to William Faulkner, his style, techniques and themes, and it offers a detailed, illuminating analysis of the nineteen novels.

Faulkner is a difficult artist. A cooperative reading of his novels can enhance the pleasure that his art affords and deepen appreciation of it. The author's aim is to reveal the greatness of Faulkner's art and the scope and profundity of his personal vision of life. The Guide is divided into three sections. The first describes the dominant patterns in the fiction, by isolating Faulkner's major themes and by analyzing his narrative techniques and style. The second section offers extensive, individual interpretations of the nineteen novels, tracing the development of Faulkner's ideas. The final section contains detailed chronologies of the difficult novels like The Sound and the Fury. [close]