Book Reviews 503

researching literature from a specific liter-
ary period and would be particularly use-
ful for librarians who provide information 
literacy sessions to literature classes of 
the period or who are literature selectors. 

The first chapter, “Strategies for Online 
Searching,” incorporates search examples 
specific to the American Realism and 
Naturalism period to introduce basic 
online searching strategies essential for 
navigating online catalogs and databases. 
The remaining chapters review resources 
more specifically related to the American 
Realism and Naturalism period. The 
chapter sections are arranged logically, as 
the authors describe the features of each 
resource and explain which are better 
suited for particular information needs. 
Each chapter section provides, upfront, 
complete bibliographic information for 
the resources it describes. A bibliography 
is also provided at the back of the volume, 
and the sixteen-page index is thorough. 
The appendix, “Resources in Related 
Disciplines,” directs the reader to general 
resources including statistical resources, 
other general information resources and 
guides (directories, indexes, and bibliog-
raphies), and resources in related disci-
plines such as art, history, music, science, 
social sciences, and theatre. This volume 
contains twenty-four figures, most of 
which illustrate how resources appear 
when you access them and include, pre-
dominantly, examples of catalog records 
and entries in reference books. It is gener-
ally very helpful to a researcher to be able 
to see an example of the resource as it is 
being described; however, figure 3.2, a 
reproduction of a detailed MARC record, 
is not well reproduced and is hard to read 
because of the size of the print. 

Chapter six, “Publishing History 
Resources,” and chapter seven, “Maga-
zines and Newspapers of the Period,” 
are particularly well researched and 
examine technological advances and 
how they relate to historical publishing 
trends, especially the rise in the number 
of periodicals and book reviews. Chapter 
six is concerned with publishing history 

in general but does a particularly fine job 
of guiding researchers to trade catalogs 
that were just beginning to be published 
during this era and to book reviews of the 
period. The chapter section “Identifying 
First Editions” carefully describes print-
ing processes and defines printing terms 
that are related to identifying editions as it 
points to other resources for further study. 
Chapter seven addresses what Stein and 
Lehu identify as two of the key challenges 
to researchers of literature from this pe-
riod: searching for literature published 
in magazines and newspapers and iden-
tifying and locating articles on “current 
affairs, essays, and editorials published 
in contemporary magazines and news-
papers in order to study the significant 
social, technological, and philosophical 
changes that occurred during the Civil 
War and the decades that followed.” The 
authors well describe literature found in 
periodicals of the period, as they discuss 
the popularity of serial novels and the 
rise of the novella, short story, and even 
the “storiette,” which was developed 
during this time and was “published in 
magazines such as Everybody’s, Collier’s, 
and Massey’s.” 

As promised in the introduction, this 
volume does indeed have a narrative 
quality that makes it an absorbing read 
from cover to cover while still being 
easy to navigate as a reference book. The 
text is clearly written, terms are carefully 
defined, and library jargon is avoided. 
Moreover, it is well cited and is in itself a 
well-crafted piece of scholarship on this 
period in literature. I highly recommend 
this volume to anyone interested in re-
searching, or assisting researchers of, the 
American Realism and Naturalism pe-
riod.—Mary Manning, Adelphi University. 

Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert. Literature of 
the Caribbean. 1st ed. Westport, Conn.: 
Greenwood Press, 2008. 244p. alk. 
paper, $49.95 (ISBN 9780313328459). 
LC2008-010293.

Literature of the Caribbean is the latest vol-
ume of Literature as a Windows to World 



504 College & Research Libraries September 2009

Cultures, a series from Greenwood Press. 
This relatively new series, started in 2003, 
is most notable for its clear and concise 
approach to multicultural literature. The 
series provides biographical sketches, 
essays that provide an overview of sig-
nificant literary contributions of regions 
in focus, and analysis of selections from 
authors covered.

This particular volume is dedicated 
to Caribbean literature and provides a 
brief historical overview of economic, 
political, and social development of the 
region since the discovery of the islands 
in 1492 and illustrates the impact of 
these events on Caribbean literature. 
Successive chapters introduce fifteen key 
authors: Michael Anthony, Alejo Car-
pentier, Michelle Cliff, Maryse Condé, 
Raphael Confiänt, Edwidge Danticat, 
Zee Edgell, Mangali García Ramis, Ja-
maica Kincaid, Mayra Montero, V.S. 
Naipaul, Patricia Powell, Jean Rhys, 
Simone Schwarz-Bart, and Derek Wal-
cott. Two of these authors won the Nobel 
Prize in Literature—Walcott (1992) and 
Naipaul (2001). Each chapter provides a 
brief biography, a critical assessment of 
the author’s literary contribution, and a 
careful analysis of one selected work. The 
volume concludes with a works cited and 
a detailed index.

The author, Dr. Paravisini-Gebert, is a 
Randolph Distinguished Professor and 
has been a faculty member in the De-
partment of Hispanic Studies at Vassar 
College, New York, since 1991. She is a 
prolific writer in this area; in addition to a 
collection of critical essays and a number 
of coedited titles, she is most notable for 
her critical editions of texts by Caribbean 
women, among them Phyllis Allfrey’s 
The Orchid House (1997) and It Falls into 
Place: the Short Stories of Phyllis Shand 
Allfrey (2004). Dr. Paravisini-Gebert also 
published numerous biographies and is 
currently working on two simultaneous 
titles: Glimpses of Hell, a study of the after-
math of the 1902 eruption of Mont Pelée 
in the Martinique, and a biography of the 
Cuban patriot José Martí. 

Though very well compiled, research-
ers interested in more in-depth treatment 
of Caribbean literature or authors might 
be a little disappointed with the brevity 
of the volume. For those researchers, I 
recommend further readings such as 
A History of Literature in the Caribbean 
(Arnold, 2001), which provides detailed 
charting of the region’s literary history, 
down to various genres such as drama 
and poetry. Similarly, The Routledge Reader 
in Caribbean Literature (Donnell, 1996) cov-
ers more diverse literary contributions 
from classic and contemporary Caribbean 
authors. Researchers would also find 
Fifty Caribbean Writers: a bio-bibliographical 
critical sourcebook (Dance, 1986) to be 
an excellent and more comprehensive 
resource for biographical information on 
authors and criticism. Nevertheless, Dr. 
Paravisini-Gebert’s book is an excellent 
option that combines all areas covered by 
the three aforementioned titles. Literature 
of the Caribbean is a highly organized 
volume designed with students in mind 
and would make a valuable teaching 
and research tool for undergraduate col-
lege and university students, or anyone 
who has general interest in Caribbean 
literature.—Ethan Pullman, Carnegie Mel-
lon University.

T.H. Howard-Hill. The British Book Trade, 
1475–1890: A Bibliography. London: 
The British Library; New Castle, Del.: 
Oak Knoll Press, in association with 
The Bibliographical Society and The 
Bibliographical Society of America, 
2009. 2 vols. (lxxi, 1,776p.) + CD-ROM 
index. $175 (ISBN 978-0-7123-5059-4 
[BL]; 978-1-58456-255-9 [OKP]. LC 
2009-004233.

The publication of The British Book Trade, 
1475–1890: A Bibliography at a time when 
library users and many librarians increas-
ingly expect instant access to all kinds 
of information reminds us that patience 
and hard work can result in a product 
of enduring value. The culmination of 
some fifty years of effort, this thoughtfully 
crafted reference tool will make a lasting