Loichot (French and Italian, Emory U.) juxtaposes the fiction and poetry of four writers from the post-slavery plantation world of the Americas to explore how that alienating environment produced empowering and innovative epistemological, literary, and political structures. Édouard Glissant from Martinique, Saint-John Perse from Guadeloupe, and William Faulkner and Toni Morrison from the US represent perspectives of black and white, male and female, and descendants of slaves and slaveholders. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)