Central to Taylor's (English and humanities, York College of Pennsylvania) treatment is the problem of hegemonic phantasm. He first develops the concept in the context of ontology, oracular speech, and founding language. Then he applies it in turn to the study of myth--reading Eliade, Lévi-Strauss, and others--and to religious and literary works by Tolstoy, Kafka, and others. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)