Must Read: Rediscovering American Bestsellers

"Must Read breathes new life into the study of best-sellers, rescuing them from not only the enormous condescension of posterity but also from the flattering but often reductive readings of modern academics. With its artful blend of textual analysis, historicization, and theoretical speculation, the contributors challenge us to reread and rethink a host of works, ranging from short stories and sentimental novellas to advice manuals and modern blockbusters.  For anyone with an interest in the contours of American print culture from the eighteenth century to the present, Must Read is itself a must read work." -Leon Jackson, Associate Professor of English, University of South Carolina, USA
"This pathbreaking collection provides a unique contribution to the study of American literature, bringing to the fore a broad survey of popular literature from a variety of eras and genres, and bringing to our attention a number of previously neglected yet essential bestselling works. A valuable addition to literary and cultural studies, Must Read is a must read for students and scholars of American popular culture and American literature more generally." -Lisa Botshon, Professor of English, University of Maine at Augusta
"Although the past two decades have seen a sizeable increase in scholarly interest in bestsellers in the American context, there remains a great deal of unexplored territory when it comes to such literature. Must Read goes a long way in addressing this deficiency by examining a tremendous range of such literature with great critical care, insight, and theoretical sophistication. Must Read is a must read for anyone interested in American bestsellers." -- Paul Gutjahr, Professor of English, American Studies, and Religious Studies, Indiana University, USA
"Must Read” is a strong addition to any literary studies collection, highly recommended. * The Midwest Book Review *
Recommended for readers interested in publishing trends and the rise and fall of popular American literature, and for the literary extremist. -- Annalisa Pesek * Library Journal *
Readers interested in the breadth of themes and modes of fictional expression will find plenty to intrigue them. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. -- D.E. Sloane, University of New Haven * CHOICE *
The volume is particularly strong in its trans-Atlantic, global focus for all historical periods it covers. It is uniformly sophisticated in its attention to gender and sexuality, race, religion, and national identity, but also written in terms easily accessible to undergraduates...Must Read succeeds both in its parts and as a whole. The essays are generally of high quality, but Churchwell and Smith have also created an unusual degree of unity and coherence among the essays. Must Read's thorough, clear introduction and careful selection and framing make it feel more like a monograph. Together, these essays make a coherent argument about popular literature as a site of struggle over meaning across history, a space where controversies over religion, race, nation, gender/sexuality, social and cultural value are negotiated. -- Erin A. Smith * American Book Review *