The novels of William Faulkner continue to fascinate and inspire. This compendium of critical thought-including Robert Penn Warren, Graham Greene, Lionel Trilling, Malcolm Cowley, and George Orwell, among others-will aid fans and students alike in understanding the great author and giant of American literature.

More than simply a renowned Mississippi writer, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist is acclaimed throughout the world as one of the twentieth century's greatest artists, one who transformed his home state into an apocryphal setting in which he explored and challenged "the old verities and truths of the heart."

It is one of the more remarkable feats of American literature: how a young man who never graduated from high school, never received a college degree, living in a small town in the poorest state in the nation, could during the Great Depression write a series of novels all set in the same small Southern county-books that include As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and above all, Absalom, Absalom!-that would one day be recognized as among the greatest literature ever produced by an American.

Nicholas Fargnoli is the author of many books, including James Joyce: A Literary Reference, Ulysses in Critical Perspective, and William Faulkner A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. He is a professor of English at [TK].