Instant American Literature

From Cover to Cover and Sea to Shining Sea: The Authors who gave America its Voice

Instant American Literature delves into our rich literary heritage. Filled with quirky facts and lively illustrations, this spirited survey visits the war-torn trenches with Stephen Crane, creeps through the nightmarish realm of Edgar Allan Poe, and ponders Walden Pond with henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. If you don’t know who (or what!) Natty Bumppo is or which legendary torne made famous the words “Simplicity! Simplicity! Simplicity! Then this book is for you. In this vastly informative entertaining compendium, you will:

•learn the true meaning of rejection from Emily Dickinson, who lived to see seven poems published—out of a prolific 1,775 masterpieces.

•discover which book was chosen by a federally appointed committee as a “must read.”

•find out how Sir Walter Scott and the Underground Railroad made Frederick Douglas a free man.

•learn which writer’s brain invented the headless horseman and get dirt on the original ”Smashing Pumpkins”!

Instant American Literature is packed with special features, including chapter summaries, “who’s who: lists, illustrations and photographs, little-known biographical facts, and historical tidbits.

Instant American Literature—It’s in a class by itself.

LAURIE ROZAKIS, Ph.D., is an associate professor of English and Humanities at the State University of New York. Dr. Rozakis is the recipient of a number of awards, including a 1994 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, inclusion in the authoritative reference text Something About the Author, and several Empire State Challenge Fellowships. Dr. Rozakis’ scholarly writing includes entries in The Dictionary of American Biography, Merriam-Webster’s Guide to Parliamentary Procedure, books on young adult authors, and articles on Hawthorne and the other Transcendental writers. She has written for Prentice Hall Literature, Scholastic, Macmillan, Random House, Simon and Schuster, Glenco/McGraw Hill, IBM, Steck-Vaughn, and McDougal, Littell. Dr. Rozakis lives on Long Island with her husband and two children.