A Handbook on Myth and Fantasy from Homer to Harry Potter.
By Matthew Dickerson & David O’Hara. Brazos Press, 2006. 272 pp. $20.00
Review written by Tom Wilmeth August 19, 2006
To draw-in the reader, this book’s cover shouts “Harry Potter” much louder than the rest of its lengthy title. However, I can forgive an obvious marketing strategy if it leads a fan of Dumbledore on a search for the professor’s predecessors. At under 300 pages the book can not be comprehensive, but Dickerson & O’Hara deliver an excellent overview of their topic. The authors demonstrate how the oral tradition of Homer and The Brothers Grimm offer a back-story of inspiration for the literary worlds created by Tolkien, Wangerin, and Rowling. Although this is one of many recent books on myth and fantasy, it offers valuable insights about the genre.
#30# 109 words
Hey, do you have this book? I want to read it! "...professor’s predecessors" - dig the alliteration!
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