H.P. Lovecraft

February 15, 2018
Literature scholar Butts (University of North Georgia) argues that Lovecraft's work, although now saturating culture from movies and video games to plush toys, has not yet had an adequate critical teaching edition. In H. P. Lovecraft, he brings together five of Lovecraft's most famous stories, including The Colour out of Space, The Call of Cthulhu, and The Shadow over Innsmouth, as well as Lovecraft's poetry and critical work on the supernatural in literature. These selections are presented alongside essays by well-known Lovecraft scholars, such as S. T. Joshi and Robert M. Price, and reflections on Lovecraft's legacy from authors ranging from Caitlin R. Kiernan to Richard Monaco. The critical essays explore a variety of aspects of Lovecraft's work, such as his story structure, his relationship to Victorian fiction and modernism, and the ever-present issue of his racism and its reflection in his work. This collection is highly recommended both for those looking to engage with Lovecraft's work in the classroom and for readers new to Lovecraft and looking for a broad sampling of his work.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)