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Library Association Record
LIBRES: Library and Information Science Research Electronic
Journal
Choice
Review
from: Library Association Record
Date reviewed: January 2001 issue
This is the 14th volume of the Wilson
Authors Series, which began publication in 1942 and which provides a
comprehensive overview of 20th century literature. The selected
authors include novelists, poets, essayists, biographers and scientists,
all of whom have made a significant literary contribution in the
period.
Though the body of the work is in
alphabetical order, there is a contents list of authors' names, with page
numbers—a quick and easy way to find an entry. Each article has an
introductory paragraph which summarizes the author’s contribution to the
genre in which he/she is writing.
The article which follows covers all
aspects of the author’s work, giving a good deal of information about
style, content and approach. About one-third of the entries include a
section written by the relevant author, giving biographical details and a
rationale of his/her writing career. This is followed by an account of the
author’s output, which includes detailed descriptions of each book and
its reception by the critics. There are quotations from reviews. The
article ends with suggested reading and a list of selected works, with
dates of publication, which extends to works published up to 1999.
The articles, while exploring the
author’s work in depth, are not all scholarly in approach and are often
witty, even gossipy. They would form an excellent base on which to
construct a talk about a specific author, or about exponents of a genre,
for use with reading groups, or on which to compile an annotated booklist
Review
from:
LIBRES: Library and Information Science Research Electronic
Journal
Date reviewed: March 2001 edition
"Approximately one-third of the
introductions also include autobiographical statements provided by the
biographees, composed specifically for this work, which provide
enlightening insights into their work...[this
title's] inclusion of specially commissioned autobiographical statements
makes it a unique reference. It would be a worthwhile addition to
reference collections in school, public and academic libraries."
Review
from: Choice, September 2000
The latest installment of World Authors offers
biographical and critical information concerning 320 authors active during
the early 1990s. The series defines "author" broadly to include novelists,
poets, dramatists, journalists, essayists, biographers, and assorted
academics, and encompasses both serious and popular writers. Ethnic and
foreign writers whose works have become known in English translation are
well represented. The competent, clear, informative entries, each three to
four pages long, are the work of Wilson staff writers and begin with a
biographical summary, followed by a discussion of the author's works.
Approximately a third include an autobiographical statement by the author;
this is one of the work's most attractive features and often provides
insights not found elsewhere. The quality of critical discussions varies:
some show familiarity with and enthusiasm for an author's works, but
others are little more than a cento of comments from published reviews.
Each article closes with lists of suggested readings and selected works by
the author. Many entries include a photograph. Lack of cross-references
will confound those seeking authors who write under multiple pseudonyms.
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