Alice Walker

Grade 9 Up-A complete research and study guide in one volume. This title includes detailed plot summaries that will be helpful to readers struggling with the books, lists of characters, and excerpts from 25 critical essays on two of Walker's novels-Meridian and The Color Purple-along with a brief biography of the writer and a thematic index. The list of critical voices ranges from Marge Piercy's praise of Walker's writing to Richard Wesley's criticism of the writer's portrayal of black men in The Color Purple to bell hooks's "The Erotic Metaphysic." However, the essays are somewhat limited in that the critics tend to address the subject matter and social concerns of Walker's works more than their artistic merit. Students doing research on one of these books will be glad to have all their work done for them and grateful for the compact package it comes in and libraries will find it chock-full of resources. Serious researchers would be better served by Bloom's Alice Walker (Chelsea, 1990), which includes full-length essays with a little meat on them. Herman Sutter, Saint Agnes Academy, Houston, TX