Geoff Hamilton (2) (1972–)

This book was both a treasure and a disappointment. I have not read it all, but have browsed heavily and I hope representatively. I received it from the Library Thing Early Reviewers program and promised a review. I am not generally into literary analysis, but found the idea of an encyclopedic look at American Literature that shows an influence by or on the Environment to be intriguing. The editors make a good case that a great deal of American Literature is influenced by Environment - with literary biographies of writers paired with entries on some of their major works. I found many writers that I expected, and also some new to me that I look forward to reading. I find it interesting that two Canadian editors produced this study of American literature - which seems limited to United States (or its precursors) authors. I can see this book as an interesting browse for readers interested in the topic, and possibly as a reference for students and scholars, but don't see a huge market - The price is high, at $75 for a paperback - though it is dense and in small print. I was annoyed by several things. There is an index, with authors and works well represented, but only a few topics. I found bears, ecology, wilderness, gardening, and environmental justice movement; but no entry for oceans, coast, seas, or similar- Since Melville, Hemmingway and Rachel Carson are included, It would be nice to have a way to find other writers on marine themes. Other terms I loked for without finding them were prairies, sustainability, geology, soil, winter and deserts. Each entry is "signed" by a name - presumably the author of the entry, but there is no list of contributors and no indication of their affiliations. Each section has a bibliography, but lack of author information seems a big oversight for a scholarly work. The Encyclopedic entries stand on their own. There is only a very brief preface and introduction to tie them together.

I'm happy to own the book, and will dip into it for background on authors and suggestions for reading, but am not sure I can strongly recommend it or justify its expense.… (plus d'informations)