50 literature ideas you really need to know, by John Sutherland

I was given "50 literature ideas you really need to know" by John Sutherland as Christmas present this year. I thought this was a great idea… and it shows how well those who gave it to me know me. On its inside cover, it says that the book is "the essential guide to all the important forms, concepts, themes and movements in literature". Does it attain its stated goal? I am not so sure… The "literature ideas" covered by Sutherland are varied and include hermeneutics, intentionalism, translation, genre, closure, allusion, defamiliarisation, metafiction, heteroglossia, or more simple aspects such as libel, lies, ghost-writers and the e-book. Each "idea" is covered in four pages, with a summary, some kind of definition, sometimes a few examples, and a lot of ranting. Don't expect to find clear definitions of each idea or to end up with clear concepts in your mind. If anything, you may end up more confused. Sutherland's writing is great, and this book feels more like a literature exercise than anything else. It certainly is NOT a practical guide. But it is fun to read, and a starting point for some of the chosen concepts. For others, such as the e-book or literature lies, it is disappointing. However, I have to be honest, it would be hard to cover any of those points in any meaningful way in only four pages.