Examining texts from Chaucer to Monty Python, Bennett (English, University of Bristol, UK) and Royle (English, University of Sussex UK) offer new ways of thinking about literature and about what is involved in reading critically, written to be accessible to those beginning to study literature, as well as more advanced students. The text has been called "the best intro to literary studies on the market" by Jonathan Culler of Cornell University, and "exceptional聟extremely well-written and original" by Phillip Martin of De Montfort University. The book presents brief essays on a range of key critical concepts, with concepts put into practice through readings of works by Shelley, Shakespeare, Chinua Achebe, Toni Morrison, and Raymond Chandler. It covers familiar topics such as character, narrative, and setting, as well as themes such as ghosts, racial difference, and God. A glossary of critical and theoretical terms and a full bibliography of the texts discussed are included. A companion web site features additional downloadable chapters. This fourth edition contains two new chapters on the human relation to the non-human world of animals and the environment. Annotation 漏2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)