Anthology of American Literature

by Paul Lauter

A best-selling anthology since its first edition, this premier survey of American literature has influenced the manner in which the American literary canon is taught in classrooms across the nation. In response to readers' requests, the editors of the Heath Anthology continue to develop and reinforce its greatest strengths: diverse reading selections and strong ancillaries. With the assistance of more than 200 contributing editors—all specialists in particular eras and writers—the editors have updated biographical and critical information, as well as added new works of interest to both instructors and students.

The Fourth Edition features writers and selections that highlight the divergent communities and diverse voices constituting the United States, both past and present. Volume 1 takes students from Native American oral literatures up to 1865, including Whitman and Dickinson. Volume 2 (which can be packaged with a free supplement of Whitman and Dickinson works) opens with African American folk tales and regional writers, and includes new sections on the Beat Movement and the Vietnam Conflict.

3036 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1998

About the author

Paul Lauter (b. 1932) is Allan K. and Gwendolyn Miles Smith Professor of Literature at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He has served as President of the American Studies Association (of the United States), and he is General Editor of the groundbreaking Heath Anthology of American Literature, now in its sixth edition.