First things first...before the ramblings be aware that you can purchase this book here.  For my own entertainment, this is a review of the physical book itself.  For those that enjoy the aesthetic appearance of a book or the fleeting sense of fulfillment that adding a block of paper with a sort of mystical inherent unity to your bookshelf brings, here you go...  Eccentrics proceed...here is the longest, oddest review of this book you'll find.

Publication Information:  This book is published by Penguin Academics.  From what I understand, the company penguin began focusing on inexpensive editions of scholarly literature but expanded and started publishing a bunch of stuff.  So Longman, a sister company of Penguin (I don't really know what a sister company is, but by picturing a "family tree" of companies, I think I can figure it out) decided to start a textbook series called Penguin Academics that focuses on cheap, portable, scholarly literature.  Kudos to this company for giving college students who can barely afford a hamburger an affordable way to purchase a literature anthology for about the same price (excluding the required purchase of new editions for classroom use).  Longman's logo is a boat with six sails in a bluish-purple square.  Don't know why they picked it; and it really doesn't blend with the general brown tone of the book.  Oh well.  ISBN is 0-321-01114-7.   

The Editor: The editor is R.S. Gwynn.  He probably knows what he's doing to be editing an anthology like this. For a while, he was really into the pocket anthology thing.  Drama: A Pocket Anthology, Fiction: A Pocket Anthology, and Poetry: A Pocket Anthology were all edited by him somewhere during the various stages of their development.  But he's not completely stuck on the pocket anthology thing, he also edited the Longman Anthology of Short Fiction (with Dana Gioia) and a couple volumes of The Dictionary of Literary Biography.  Besides his editing, he writes poems.  The bio in this anthology, as well as his website at Lamar University, Beaumont Texas, seems to highlight the publication No Word of Farewell: Selected Poems: 1970-2000.   The photo in this anthology shows that this man is quite serious about his literature!   

About: Before shying away in awe of the backbreaking strife that those who compiled this volume must have faced, we find evidence of resourcefulness (or a good idea for quick cash) in observing copyright dates of other books.  Similar anthologies of fiction and poetry (both up to three editions) and a drama anthology (two editions) preceded this literature anthology.  But an implied marketing move isn't the only eyebrow-raiser...the reader is reminded throughout the volume that other Penguin books can be purchased with the anthology in an educational bundle of sorts and you can contact Your Longman representative for this information.  Accountant, lawyer...I knew I forgot to hire that Longman representative. 

The cover design is quite elegant, a simple black and white photograph surrounded by a tan border.  Yet the border implies the hints of color that are missing from the photograph, a cloudy, coastal setting with a small wooden dock leading into the water.  It gives the appearance that the browns of the photograph have been moved to the outer edges.  Of note in the photograph itself are two light sources, an ambiguous one emerging from the cloudy sky, and a more focused one beneath the dock.  The many symbolic connotations of light will surely prompt philosophical ponderings if this photograph is admired.  Not as interesting on the cover are the (fossilized, sketched?) plants hidden lightly behind the title and the Penguin Academics logo surrounded in a bright orange oval.  Overall, the meager price that you can find this book for are worth it for the cover alone.

     On the back cover, the book praises its own layout, typeface, etc.  Personally, the primary font is a little vertical and cramped, although the heading for selections are set in a flowing text and the titles are printed in an subtly introspective gray font.  And the overall layout is reasonable; no complaints.

Contents: What's in this thing that makes it worth buying?  In addition to the "Advance Praise" on the first page of the book (warning the reader before they see a single word that this anthology will actually be worthwhile), readers receive a self-laudatory preface raving about the positive qualities of this anthology.  There's a lot of actual material in here though; the table of contents shows about nine plays, thirty-seven short stories, and at least three hundred poems...the contents almost equal 365 items meaning you could read one item a day to entertain yourself.  Diversity is also evident.  A focus on including minority, international and women writers is evident in the contents.  Valuable content in this anthology can be found in the supplementary information to the selected works.  Depending on how slowly the introductory material is read, readers can learn a lot.  A wide spectrum of basic literary knowledge is covered in a small space.  Readers will certainly be able to at least act as if they are quite knowledgeable about any aspect of literature that may arise in casual conversation.  Combining this material with background information about authors and selections before each work allows this anthology to be a valuable instructional tool.  An wonderful feature that must be mentioned is the thematic appendix.  This is essentially a "cheat-sheet" for anyone needing to due an undergraduate research paper.  Look up a theme, see what works feature it, choose an aspect of this theme and you will certainly appear as if you reached an intriguing insight hidden within the depths of your literary knowledge.

     The price and size of this book seem to belong to the antithesis of the stereotypical literature anthology.  Although larger, hardcover literary tomes may lend a more academic, intellectual atmosphere to a bookshelf, this anthology will be beloved by anyone who actually wants to learn about literature and not get caught!  It's cheap, it has a lot of good stuff, and you can travel with it.  It does give a solid overview of the study of literature (if that's actually possible to do). 

     Other stuff...well...  If you select literature anthologies that complement impulse shopping habits, the very last page of text in the book is a list of related publications that you can purchase.  There was a companion website that went along with this book that was supposed to contain a bunch of stuff.  It doesn't work now...don't believe me?...click on http://www.ablongman.com/gwynn and try for yourself.  A shame it doesn't work...it was supposed to have links to a few extra plays/