"This groundbreaking collection of essays by a group of extraordinary scholars and critics treats a wide range of key American writers and presents the most important arguments of the last twenty years on gender and sexuality and on class, race, and nationalism in American cultural expression. The book demonstrates clearly how far we have come, what we have learned, and what is at stake today in our reading, in the classroom, and in our lives. It asks, finally, if we will accept the continuation of separate spheres or if we will keep striving to resist them. A major achievement!"--Emory Elliott, University of California, Riverside
