About This Book
For six decades, writer and editor Robert A. Parker has followed up each book he reads, mainly novels, with an evaluation of that book. His comments are informed by an independent critical view that balances a moral and literary sensibility.
In this the final of six volumes, the authors covered range from Ignazio Silone to Emile Zola. They include Josef Skvorecky, Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, John Steinbeck, William Styron, D. M. Thomas, J. R. R. Tolkien, Scott Turow, Barry Unsworth, John Updike, Mario Vargas Llosa, Robert Penn Warren, Evelyn Waugh, Patrick White, and Thornton Wilder. There are at least 100 authors included in this volume, some represented by one book, some by five or more.
The writers here represent a broad range of writing styles, cultural influences, and moral philosophies. And all are rated on their literary achievement, the effectiveness of plot, character, and setting, plus their recognition of the moral, ethical, and spiritual values of mankind.
