Texts and contexts

This book is what it is -- and it's a college textbook. Nevertheless, it is a textbook I wish I had had years ago, and it is an accessible, readable introduction to different modes of literary criticism, with some of the strengths and weaknesses of each. Lynn gives loads of examples and writes a sample essay in the style of each mode of criticism. Surely useful for the student in class, but what kept me (as a non-student) was his witty and conversational style. I picked this book up because I have been reading more novels and wanted to know more about literary criticism, and this book was perfectly suited to that purpose.