New Releases by X. J. Kennedy

A compact version of one of the most widely adopted composition readers of all time — at a significant savings to students — The Brief Bedford Reader continues to engage and inspire with 50 remarkable selections, all the outstanding instructional material of the full-length text, and a unique "Writers on Writing" feature in which 32 of the book’s writers comment on their process and their work. Thorough coverage of critical reading, effective writing, and working with sources guides students, now more than ever, through their own academic writing. And an exciting visual dimension shows that rhetorical methods apply to both images and text. The Brief Bedford Reader is a favorite of students for the Kennedys’ clarity and wit, of instructors for the flexible and realistic view of the rhetorical methods, and of both for the superior selections and perceptive commentaries by writers worth reading.

The smallest and most economical member of the Kennedy/Gioia family, Backpack Literature is a brief paperback version of the discipline''s most popular introduction to literature anthology. Like its bigger, bestselling predecessors, Backpack Literature features the authors'' collective poetic voice which brings personal warmth and a human perspective to the discussion of literature, adding to students'' interest in the readings.

Literature, 10th/e, the most popular introduction of its kind, is organized into three genres¤Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. As in past editions, the authors'' collective poetic voice brings personal warmth and a human perspective to the discussion of literature, adding to students'' interest in the readings. An introduction to a balance of contemporary and classic stories, poems, and plays. Casebooks offer in-depth look at an author or clusters of works, for example “Latin American Poetry.” Authors Joe Kennedy and Dana Gioia provide inviting and illuminating introductions to the authors included and to the elements of literature. Coverage of writing about literature is also included. For those interested in literature.

A resource every writer should have.

A practical, instructive, and comprehensive guide to the language of literary study, Kennedy''sA Handbook of Literary Terms is a reference manual that aims to demystify literature and the techniques literary scholars use. Over 400 entries. Clear, concise, and accessible definitions of key literary terms. Visual material supports explanations. Those interested in the study of literature and the vocabulary of literary inquiry.

Winner of the Poets Prize The Lords of Misrule, X. J. Kennedy''s seventh volume of poetry, exhibits his characteristic blend of wit, intellectual curiosity, and formal mastery. The sixty poems collected here explore a wide range of subjects: a scathing curse on a sneak-thief, a wry ballad of Henry James and his not-quite lover Constance Fenimore Woolson, an elegy for Allen Ginsberg, incisive views of contemporary Egypt, a serio-comic meditation on the relic of St. Teresa of Avila which Spain''s General Franco kept at his bedside, and a response to the events of September 11. Like the controlled frenzy of medieval Christmas festivities presided over by the appointed Lords of Misrule, Kennedy''s poems possess a chaotic humor and frenetic energy held within tight metrical bounds. In his latest collection, Kennedy confirms his reputation as one of America''s most accomplished and engaging poets.

An Introduction to Fiction 8/e , is a collection of short stories-69 in all-which offers a wide ranging view of classic and contemporary writers. "Writer''s Perspectives" sections give commentary on the craft of writing and revising from authors, which provide insight and a more human perspective on literature and the writing process. "Writing Critically" sections at the end of each major chapter, expand coverage of composition with accessible and pragmatic suggestions on writing. "Critical Approaches to Literature" section provides three essays on every major school of criticism with sections on gender criticism and cultural studies. New casebooks on Flannery O''Connor and Raymond Carver. 13 New Stories including works from Aesop, Ha Jin, Eudora Welty, Octavio Paz, Anjana Appachana, Margaret Atwood, Andre Dubus, Kazuo Ishiguro, Leo Tolstoy, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Concise and easy to use new Glossary of Literary Terms helps readers better understand literary terminology. For anyone interested in.

A collection of poems arranged in such catagories as poems that make you smile, send messages, or share feelings; poems that contain "beats that repeat" or "word play"; and special kinds of poems such as limericks, songs, and haiku.

Features work by many of the finest nonfiction writers & a few fiction writers. The essays deal with writing & lit. & cut broadly across a college curriculum. You''ll find writings on science, history, bus., law, religion, pop culture, women''s studies, sociol., educ., commun., the environ., tech., sports, dreams, politics, the media, & minority exper. These 45 selections reveal kinds of reading you will meet in college courses. The essays show you how good writers write. Will encourage you in critical reading -- thoughtful, open-minded, questioning reading. Mulling over the views of the writers in this book, figuring out their motives & strategies, agreeing or disagreeing with their ideas, will help you learn to digest & use, in your own writing, what you read & hear.

Continues the fantastic adventures of the twins Timothy and Verity as they attempt to rescue their half-brother and save their land from a swarm of killer bees.

In Dark Horses prize-winning poet X. J. Kennedy gathers forty-two new poems rich in sound and sense. All display uncommon skill and an ability to treat matters both timeless and contemporary. From the lighhearted ballad "Dancing with the Poets at Piggy''s" to the darkly meditative lyric "The Waterbury Cross," the poems show Kennedy''s wide range. There are intimate portraits of a woman veterinarian and a young man dying of AIDS, a song about the Sri Lankan festival of Buddha''s tooth, and a stark account of a confrontation with a homeless panhandler. "Emily Dickinson Leaves a Message to the World" on the newly installed answering machine in her Amherst homestead. Finding a "Woodpile Skull" — the severed head of a black ant — makes the poet laugh at his own expense as he plays "ham Hamlet to a formic Yorick." Enlivened by X. J. Kennedy''s sardonic humor, wit, and insight into the human condition, the "dark horses" of this newest collection represent the finely crafted work of one of America''s best-known and most widely respected poets.

An illustrated collection of poems for very young children, including works by Robert Louis Stevenson, Edward Lear, Shel Silverstein, and Jack Prelutsky.