Lives Through Literature: A Thematic Anthology (3rd Edition)

This thematic anthology of literature is wonderful. The selections revolve around a number of different myths, folktales, fairy tales, and bible stories. The editors have collected short stories, poems, and plays that allude to the myths, etc. They've organized these wonderful selections (for example, the myth of Persephone and Demeter, along with Robert Hayden's "Pomegranate" and Louise Gluck's "The Pomegranate")to allow students to explore uses of myth and folktale in literature. Even for the non-lit types, this collection offers a way in because it begins with familiar childhood stories.

It is unfortunate that a previous reviewer of this textbook has chosen to rate his professor (one of the book's editors) rather than evaluate the book itself. I don't know Professor Helane Levine Keating, but the single poem of her own that she includes, "The Envious Heart," alludes to "Snow White," and is a beautiful piece.