The American Tradition in Literature

by George B. Perkins; Editor-Barbara Perkins

THE AMERICAN TRADITION IN LITERATURE has introduced nearly two million students to the historic sweep of American Literature. Now, in its eighth edition, this leading anthology once again presents the best collection published. Published in 3 volumes - I, II, and the Shorter Edition (a single volume) - they are all available in both hard and softcover. This revision balances the major writers with new and newly appreciated voices. Literary merit, as identified by the most current criticism, remains the guiding principle of selection. The headnotes and biblliographies have been extensively revised to reflect recent scholarship, and the new selections that have been added represent more fully American literature and the latter half of the twentieth century. Now in its fourth decade, George and Barbara Perkins continue to create the standard by which all other American literature anthologies are judged.

Genres: Fiction, Anthologies, Literature, Textbooks, Poetry, Classics, Reference

2 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Forked Radish]

7th Edition, 1990… Emily Dickinson–76 entries, Jack London–1 entry?!

[Zac Sigler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually began reading this in 2010 or 2011 because I needed 3 credits in literature. Then, I shuffled my way through the parts of the anthology that dealt with pre-20th century writing during summer breaks. I’m feeling very accomplished, thank you.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the text of one of my Lit classes at LVC. It features some of the greatest contemporary writers and poets. There are many more, I will skip over some even if it seems like I included all of them. This is likely an expensive book (I don't recall what it cost me) but it beats purchasing several smaller books if you would like a sample of great writers. It also allows you to discover writers you may not have heard of or have heard of but have not encountered previously. I enjoyed all the selections I've read and look forward to discovering more.

Some of the selected writers include:
AN AGE OF EXPANSION 1865-1915
New Voices in Poetry:
Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Sidney Lanier
Realists and Regionalists:
Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, Henry James, Ambrose
Bierce, Joel Chandler Harris
The Turn of the Century 1890-1910:
Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton, Jack London

MODERN AMERICAN LITERATURE 1915-1945
New Directions The First Wave
Willa Cather, Gertrude Stein, Robert Frost, Carl
Sandburg, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Hilda Doolittle
Poets of Idea and Order
William Carlos Williams, John Crowe Ransom, Hart Crane
Literature of Social and Cultural Challenge
Edna St. Vincent Millay, e.e. cummings, Langston
Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston

APPROCHAING A MILLENIUM 1945 TO THE PRESENT
Drama at Midcentury
Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller
Poetry at Midcentury
Theordore Roethke, Elizabeth Bishop, John Berryman
Fiction at Midcentury
Eudora Welty, John Cheever, Flannery O'Connor
The Sixties and After
Drama
Edward Albee, Sam Shepard, August Wilson
Poetry
Robert Bly, Allen Ginsberg, Adrienne Rich, Sylvia
Plath, Anne Sexton, Cathy Song, Dave Smith
Fiction
Toni Morrison, John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates,
Alice Walker, Raymond Carver
The Globalization of American Literature
Vladimir Nabokov, Czeslaw Milosz, Isabel Allendale,
Jamacia Kincaid

[Steven Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reviewing the 11th edition of this volume, even though that is not listed in Goodreads when I try to view the volume.

What a shame that this is currently unavailable. This is a wonderful compilation of American literature from Walt Whitman to Edwidge Danticat. There are many other writers, many of whom I was unaware. Confession: This is one of my son's college textbooks, and I heisted it to get a taste of the works therein!

The book has selections from major writers, plus some essays placing the works into some kind of context. The works are examined in terms of a series of categories: An Age of Expansion (with subcategories such as New Voices in Poetry, Realists and Regionalists), The Turn of the Century (19th to 20th) (subcategories: Prosperity and Social Justice at the Turn of the Century (19th to 20th) (subcategory: New Directions), The Literary Renaissance (The First Wave, Modernism and the American Voice, Poets of Idea and Order), A Literature of Social and Cultural Challenge (e.g., The Jazz Age and Harlem Renaissance) The Second World War and Its Aftermath (Drama, The Age of Anxiety, Poetry, Fiction), A Century Ends and a New Millennium Begins (The Age of Anxiety, Poetry, Fiction, The Globalization of American Literature). As one can see, it is tough to review a volume that covers so much territory! So, I will simply note some interesting issues raised in this volume.

First, let's take a look at the last slice of time--"A Century Ends and a New Millennium Begins." Drama? Sam Shepard's "True West." "Age of Anxiety"? Bob Dylan's song "Masters of War," Martin Luther King's "I have a dream." Poetry? Anne Sexton, Adrienne Rich, Sylvia Plath, Bob Dylan and so on. Fiction? Toni Morrison, Anne Tyler, Amy Tan. And on it goes.

One can always quibble about what goes into a sele4ctuion like this. But, overall, I think that this provides the reader with a nice sense of American literature from the Civil War era to the present.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first volume of a compilation of important and representative selection of American literature from the Colonial Period to the Transcendentalists and other mid-19th century writers. All the usual suspects are here: The Mayflower Compact, a selection from Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, The Declaration of Independence, selections from The Federalist Papers, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, selections from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Frederick Douglass' Narrative, speeches by Abraham Lincoln including the Gettysburg Address, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville and Walt Whitman. What I have is the Sixth Edition dating from 1985. I'm not sure if this is one of my old college texts or just something I picked up on a used bookstore. I can't imagine reading this massive book from cover to cover as an anthology. Including the Index, it's 1,797 papers of almost onion skin paper you can practically see through in eye-sight killing font. There might be better books that suit its purpose, such as The Norton Anthology of American Literature, that are even better choices. This is more a reference book for me than a collection to read through. And considering all the works are in the public domain, well, not much value added.

[Shannan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a textbook for an American Lit class. I enjoyed many of the story selections and feel like I got a good cross section of modern American fiction. I could have done with less poetry, but then I'm not a poetry girl! I'm just glad the class is almost over and I can read what i want to read!!!!

[Scott N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another gem I acquired from Lit class. I liked this one as well.