'The clean, supple writing highlights the difficulty and contested nature of terms, some of which assiduously elude lexical clarification. Doubly helpful because it both defines terms and advises on next-step reading, Hawthorn is more comprehensive than 'The Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism',...and complements M.H. Abrams' 'A Glossary of Literary Terms'.' Choice 'I have used the 'Concise Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory' in my upper level literature courses at the University of Houston-Downtown for several years. My students find it invaluable and less confusing than other texts of the some type ... covers all the important literary terms with a thorough and engaging approach.' Gillian Hanson, Amazon.com