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Thomas Byrne Memorial Library 
General Reference Books on American Literature

Compiled by Bret Heim, MSLIS
Instructional and Reference Librarian

Jump to:  || Characters || Drama || General || Novels|| Poetry || Short Story || 

What do you do when you don’t know where to look? In track and field, the sprinters who win have great starts. No pun intended, but getting started on the right foot will save time, and usually produce superior results.

The resources listed in this guide are intended to save you time in the initial phases of your research. It includes reference sources for specific literary genre with listings of journal titles to watch for. This list of reference sources should help you search more productively and efficiently.

Notice that many of the sources listed are bibliographies, that is lists of books and journal articles compiled upon some common theme. The lists can be organized by literary genre, time period, nationality or even gender.

Subject headings for searching in the library online catalog are also included. You can use all or part of these subject headings to identify additional sources held by Thomas Byrne Memorial Library.

Finally, remember that HUMAN resources are also available to help. Reference librarians can help with strategies, suggest specific resources, explain online searching techniques and help you find your way around the library.

|| Characters || Drama || General || Novels|| Poetry || Short Story || 

General

Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Laurie Lanzen Harris, editor.
Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co. PN761 .N5 VOL. 1-64 REFERENCE

Subject: Literature, Modern--19th century--History and criticism.

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Detroit, Mich., Gale Research Co.
Annual. PN771 .G27 VOL. 1-73 REFERENCE

Subject: Literature, Modern--20th century--History and criticism.

Dictionary of American Regional English. Frederic G. Cassidy, chief editor. Cambridge, Mass. : 
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985-. PE2843 .D52 1985 REFERENCE

Sample Journals

American Literature
College Literature
Contemporary Literature
Essays in Criticism
Journal of Modern Literature
Twentieth Century Literature

Novels

Adelman, Irving. The Contemporary Novel : a Checklist of Critical Literature on the
English Language Novel Since 1945. 2nd ed. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 1997.
PS379 .A33 1997 REFERENCE

Subject: American fiction--20th century--History and criticism--Bibliography

Bloom, Harold, ed. American Women Fiction Writers 1900-1960. Philadelphia :
Chelsea House, 1997. PS 374 .W6 A 455 1997 vols. 1-3

Contemporary Fiction Writers of the South : a Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook. Edited
by Joseph M. Flora and Robert Bain. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1993.
PS261 .C565 1993 REFERENCE

Subject: American fiction--Southern States--Bio-bibliography

Gerstenberger, Donna Lorine. The American Novel; a Checklist of Twentieth-Century
Criticism. Denver, A. Swallow. PS379 .G4 VOL.1-2 REFERENCE

Subject: American fiction--History and criticism--Bibliography

Kellman, Steven G. The Modern American Novel : an Annotated Bibliography.
Pasadena, Calif. : Salem Press, c1991. PS379 .K44 1991 REFERENCE

Subject: American fiction--20th century--History and criticism--Bibliography

Nevius, Blake. The American Novel : Sinclair Lewis to the Present. New York :
Appleton-Century-Crofts, [1970]. PS379 .Z9963 1970 REFERENCE

Subject: American fiction--20th century--History and criticism--Bibliography

Reisman, Rosemary M. Canfield. Contemporary Southern Women Fiction Writers : an
Annotated Bibliography. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press, Inc. ; Pasadena, Calif. :
Salem Press, 1994. PS261 .R44 1994 REFERENCE

Subject: American fiction--Southern States--Bibliography
Subject: Women and literature--Southern States--Bibliography

Wheeler, Kathleen M. A Guide to Twentieth-Century Women Novelists. Oxford, UK ;
Cambridge, Mass. : Blackwell Publishers, 1997. PR888 .W6 W44 1997 REFERENCE

Subject: American fiction--Women authors--History and criticism
Subject: American fiction--Women authors--Bio-bibliography

Sample Journals

Modern Fiction Studies
Studies in American Fiction
Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature

Poetry

Altieri, Charles. Modern Poetry. Compiled by Charles F. Altieri. Arlington Heights, Ill. : AHM Pub. Corp., c1979. PS614 .Z9924 1979 REFERENCE

Subject: American poetry--20th century--History and criticism--Bibliography

The Columbia History of American Poetry. Jay Parini, editor. New York : Columbia
University Press, c1993. PS303 .C64 1993 REFERENCE

Subject: American poetry--History and criticism

Contemporary Poets. 6th ed. New York : St. James Press, c1996.
PR603 .C63 1996 REFERENCE

Subject: American poetry--20th century--Bio-bibliography

The Harvard Book of Contemporary American Poetry. Edited by Helen Vendler.
Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985.
PS615 .H37 1985 REFERENCE

Subject: American poetry--20th century

Sakelliou-Schultz, Liana. Feminist Criticism of American Women Poets : an
Annotated Bibliography, 1975-1993. New York : Garland, 1994.
PS151 .S24 1994 REFERENCE

Subject: American poetry--Women authors--History and criticism--Bibliography

Poetry Criticism. Detroit, Mich., Gale Research Co. Annual.
PN 1010. P499 Vol. 1-18 REFERENCE

Subject: Poetry – History and criticism

The American Poetry Review
Poetry (Chicago)
Southern Poetry Review

American Short-Story Writers Since World War II . Edited by Patrick Meanor.
Detroit : Gale Research, c1993. PS374 .S5 A398 1993 REFERENCE

Subject: Short stories, American--Dictionaries
Subject: Short stories, American--Bio-bibliography--Dictionaries

The American Short Story, 1900-1945 : a critical history. Philip Stevick, editor.
Boston, Mass. : Twayne Publishers, 1984. PS374 .S5 A366 1984 REFERENCE

Subject: Short stories, American--History and criticism

The American Short Story, 1945-1980 : a critical history. Gordon Weaver, editor.
Boston : Twayne, 1983. PS374 .S5 A37 1983 REFERENCE

Subject: Short stories, American--History and criticism
Subject: American fiction--20th century--History and criticism

Thurston, Jarvis. Short Fiction Criticism; a Checklist of Interpretation Since 1925
of Stories and Novelettes (American, British, Continental). Denver, A. Swallow.
PN3373 .T8 REFERENCE

Subject: Short story--Bibliography

Short Story Criticism. Detroit, Mich., Gale Research Co. PN 3373. S386 REFERENCE

Weixlmann, Joseph. American Short Fiction Criticism and Scholarship, 1959-1977 : a
Checklist / Joe Weixlmann. Chicago : Swallow Press, c1982. PS374.S5 W4 REFERENCE

Subject: American fiction--History and criticism--Bibliography

Sample Journals

Studies in Short Fiction

Drama

Berney, K. A. , Ed. Contemporary American Dramatists. Detroit : St. James Press, c1994. PS352 .C65 1994 REFERENCE

Subject: American drama--20th century--Bio-bibliography

Demastes, William W. American Playwrights, 1880-1945 : a Research and Production
Sourcebook. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1995. PS351 .A43 1995 REFERENCE

Subject: American drama--20th century--Bio-bibliography

Drama Criticism. Detroit : Gale Research, Inc., 1991-. PN1601 .D59 v. 1-11 REFERENCE

Subject: Drama--History and criticism

Eddleman, Floyd Eugene. American Drama Criticism : Interpretations, 1890-1977.
Hamden, Conn. : Shoe String Press, 1979. PS332 .E3 REFERENCE

Subject: American drama--History and criticism--Bibliography

Gavin, Christy, Ed. American Women Playwrights, 1964-1989 : a Research Guide and
Annotated Bibliography. New York : Garland Pub., 1993. PS338 .W6 G38 1993 REFERENCE

Subject: American drama--20th century--History and criticism--Bibliography
Subject: American drama--Women authors--Bibliography

Murphy, Brenda. The Cambridge Companion to American Women Playrights. New York : Cambridge University Press, 1999. PS338 .W6 C36 1999 REFERENCE

Subject: Women and literature--United States
Subject: American drama--Women authors--History and criticism

Peterson, Jane T. Women Playwrights of Diversity : a Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook.
Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1997. PS338 .W6 P48 1997 REFERENCE

Subject: American drama--Minority authors--Dictionaries
Subject: American drama--Women authors--Dictionaries

Shafer, Yvonne. American women playwrights, 1900-1950. New York : Peter Lang, 1995. PS338 .W6 S48 1995  REFERENCE

Subject: American drama--Women authors--History and criticism

Shuman, R. Baird. American Drama, 1918-1960 : an Annotated Bibliography.
Pasadena, Calif. : Salem Press, 1992. PS350 .S58 1992 REFERENCE

Subject: American drama--20th century--History and criticism--Bibliography

American Drama
Comparative Drama
Studies in American Drama, 1945-Present
Theatre Journal

Characters

Harris, Laurie Lanzen. Characters in 20th-Century Literature. Detroit : Gale Research, c1990. Detroit : Gale Research, 1990. PN56.4 .H37 1990 REFERENCE

Subject: Characters and characteristics in literature

Howes, Kelly King. Characters in 19th-Century Literature. Gale Research, c1993.
Detroit : Gale Research, 1993. PN56.4 .H68 1993 REFERENCE

Subject: Characters and characteristics in literature

Major Characters in American Fiction. New York : H. Holt, 1996, c1994. 
New York : H. Holt, 1994. PS374 .C43 M35 1996 REFERENCE

Subject: Characters and characteristics in literature

BH 2/2000