William Faulkner: First Encounters

In this clear-sighted and enjoyable book, Cleanth Brooks, acknowledged to be “the best critic of our best novelist,” introduces the general reader to Faulkner’s most important novels and The Sound and the Fury; As I lay Dying; The Hamlet; Go Down, Moses; Light in August; and Absalom, Absalom!  Brooks focuses on theme, character, and plot as well as on Faulkner’s world—the fictional Yoknapatawpha County that provides a unique setting for Faulkner’s tragicomic vision.