August Wilson by Mary Ellen Snodgrass ISBN-10: 0786419032 ISBN-13: 9780786419036 $35.00 Paperback Award-winning African-American playwright August Wilson created a cultural chronicle of black America through such works as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, and Two Trains Running. This literary companion provides readers with a source of basic data and analysis of characters, dates, events, allusions, staging strategies, and themes from the work of one of America's finest playwrights. Barbara Kingsolver by Mary Ellen Snodgrass ISBN-10: 0786419512 ISBN-13: 9780786419517 $35.00 Paperback A writer of fiction, documentary, verse and essay, Barbara Kingsolver supports entertaining stories with profound themes of ecological responsibility and defense of human rights. This work provides an introduction and overview of the author's literary achievements, along with data and analysis on characters, literary motifs, and themes from her works. Appendices include a timeline of events in The Poisonwood Bible, a list of 46 writing and research topics, a bibliography, and a comprehensive index. Amy Tan by Mary Ellen Snodgrass ISBN-10: 0786420138 ISBN-13: 9780786420131 $35.00 Paperback Amy Tan's work--once pigeonholed as ethnic literature--resonates with universal themes that cross cultural and ideological boundaries, and prove wildly successful with readers of all stripes. This reference work introduces and summarizes Tan's life, her body of literature, and her characters. Appendices provide an overlapping timeline of historical and fictional events in Tan's work, a glossary of foreign terms found in her writing, and a list of related writing and research topics. Walter Dean Myers by Mary Ellen Snodgrass ISBN-10: 0786424567 ISBN-13: 9780786424566 $35.00 Paperback Walter Dean Myers, preeminent author of teen fiction biography and verse, refines the image of black characters that are frequently trivialized or vilified in juvenile literature, advertising, television, and film. This volume introduces readers to both the writer and his work, with an emphasis on the characters, dates, events, motifs, and themes from his books. The 101 A-to-Z entries offer concise, analytical discussion on all topics and include generous citations from primary and secondary sources.