Tanner provides not only an illuminating introduction to James and his writings; he also presents a portrait of his development as a writer and the seemingly inexhaustible inventiveness of his imagination. The first part introduces James' major theme--the complex fate of the American living in Europe--and surveys James' achievement upto the publishing of The Portrait of a Lady. The second chapter, covering the period of his continuous residence in...

In the final ten years of his life, Tony Tanner tackled the largest project any critic in English can take on, writing a preface to each of Shakespeare's plays. This collection serves as a comprehensive introduction for the general reader. Tanner brings Shakespeare to life, explicating everything from big-picture issues such as the implications of shifts in Elizabethan culture to close readings of Shakespeare's deployment of complex words in his plays.--[book...