A refreshing alternative to voluminous literature anthologies, this compact, inexpensive, and diverse collection of fiction, poetry, and drama provides a concise yet complete introduction to the study of literature. New selections include:

• Short story authors new to this collection include award winners Tobias Wolff, Helen Simpson, and Susan Perabo, as well as the Pulitzer-prize winning Indian-American, Jhumpa Lahiri.
• The poetry collection brings new selections from classic and contemporary authors, including John Keats, e.e. cummings, Langston Hughes, Elizabeth Bishop, and Richard Wilbur, as well as fresh models from poets new to this edition including Amy Gerstler, Rebecca Foust, Craig Arnold, Ernest Hilbert and Erica Dawson, whose work brings poetry into the 21st century.
• The drama section includes Yasmina Reza’s Tony-winning comedy The God of Carnage, produced on Broadway with a cast including James Gandolfini and Jeff Daniels and reflecting the robust strength of today’s Broadway and of contemporary comedy, as well as Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, which brings a classic comedy to this collection for the first time.