Seed's (American literature, U. of Liverpool, UK) compilation of 53 essays and readings by 53 international academics provides scholars and students an accessible overview of fiction published in the US since the end of WWI. Sixteen chapters examine the variety of genres, traditions, and subject areas, including the urban novel, the western, modern Gothic, the short story, Southern fiction, Jewish American fiction, African American fiction, detective and hard-boiled/noir works, Chicano fiction, Black humor writing, works about the Vietnam War, and Native American fiction. The remaining 37 chapters offer critical analysis of 37 writers, from canonical literary figures, such as Hemingway, Stein, Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, Faulkner, and Wolfe, to popular contemporary writers, such as Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, and Alice Walker. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)