FROM COVER TO COVER AND SEA TO SHINING SEA: THE AUTHORS WHO GAVE AMERICA ITS VOICE Instant American Literature delves into our rich literary heritage. Filled with quirky facts and lively illustrations, this spirited survey visits the war-torn trenches with Stephen Crane, creeps through the nightmarish realm of Edgar Allan Poe, and ponders Walden Pond with Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. If you don't know who (or what!) Natty Bumppo is or which legendary tome made famous the words "The horror! The horror!" then this book is for you. In this vastly informative and infinitely entertaining compendium, you will: --learn the true meaning of rejection from Emily Dickinson, who lived to see only seven poems published--out of a prolific 1,775 masterpieces. --discover which book was chosen by a federally appointed committee as a "must read." --find out how Sir Walter Scott and the Underground Railroad made Frederick Douglass a free man. --match a (writer's) face to the headless horseman and get the dirt on the original "Smashing Pumpkins" ! Instant American Literature is packed with special features, including chapter summaries, "who's who" lists, illustrations and photographs, little-known biographical facts, and historical tidbits. INSTANT AMERICAN LITERATURE It's in a class by itself!