"For the first time in over ten years, we have a new introduction to literary theory that is profoundly reliable as well as inviting, playful and inventive." Sarah Wood - Director of MA in Critical Theory, School of English, University of Kent "Lucid, very readable and authoritative." Tim Clark - Professor in the Deparment of English Studies, Durham University

Rescuing the subject from deadly dry theorists and -isms, Clare Connors focuses on the real questions that emerge when we read and study literature - such as how we find meaning and how literature relates to its historical context - before exploring the response of theorists. Using selections from works including poetry by Christina Rossetti and Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain, Connors unites theory with practice, revealing how enjoyable it is to think about reading.