It is fully annotated for undergraduate readers.<br /><br />"Backgrounds and Contexts" includes a rich selection of materials, somepreviously unavailable, for the study of contemporary psychological,social, and economic issues, as well as Wharton's privatecorrespondence and writings and biographical accounts of the author.<br /><br />Arranged under two headings, "Criticism" reveals <em>Ethan Frome</em>'s impact asboth a literary work and a social commentary."Contemporary Reviews" consists of eight prominent assessments of <em>EthanFrome</em>, including reviews from the New York Times Book Review, Outlook,The Nation, the Saturday Review, and those penned by Frederic TaberCooper and Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant, among others. "Modern Criticism" (1956-1991) includes seven interpretations of thenovella by Lionel Trilling, Elizabeth Ammons, Judith Fryer, Jean FrantzBlackall, Lev Raphael, Candace Waid, and Cynthia Griffin Wolff.<br /><br />A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography are also included.<br />