Literature by Place

It's kind of crazy to what extent geography can inform an author's work. Jack London spent most of his life at sea, dog-sledding across Alaska, boxing and generally being an adventurous guy who would put today's REI crowd to shame. Would he have penned some of the greatest American novels otherwise? especially ones concerned primarily with man battling the elements for survival in both a mental and physical sense? Very probably not, which explains why Oscar Wilde didn't write about wolves and crazy ship captains.

No, Oscar Wilde wrote primarily about fops and society people parrying witticisms incessantly. That's not to say his work has no place in a serious consideration of literature—au contraire, The Picture of Dorian Grey is one of the finest novels written in English. It's just more evidence that if you're an author who lives in the Canadian mountains or the clubs of London, your writing will reflect that.

Physical terrain isn't the only consideration. Sartre wrote about people lolling about with no real sense of purpose except to drink wine and smoke cigarettes and look languorous because he lived in France in the 1940s. Friedrich Nietzsche had immense mustaches and espoused a form of nihilism because he was German. The Russians wrote impossibly long novels because they lived in Russia. And Chinua Achebe was almost entirely influenced by his African upbringing.

That's not to say no one can write well about a context they haven't experienced firsthand. I'm pretty sure Robert Heinlein never visited Mars, and even if he did it wasn't as his books describe; the same goes for Bradbury. And no, Roald Dahl was never lost in a delightfully (though at times, terrifyingly) absurd chocolate factory. Yet even with these examples, the authors conveyed essentially the attitudes of the countries they came from—Heinlein and Bradbury from the U.S., Dahl from the U.K.

Our Literature by Place subcategories are admittedly Anglo-centric. North American literature features, well, American literature, and you can be pretty sure British literature reflects the same system; everything else goes in world literature. We have plenty of non-American or -British literature, we just don't have much from any one place besides those two. At any rate, we hope these categories are helpful, and if they guide you toward one book you're looking for (or maybe one you didn't even know existed), they've done their job.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
Did you find this review helpful?
173 Items found Print
Active Filters: Drama (Plays)
Aeschylus I: The Oresteia (old)
The Complete Greek Tragedies
by Aeschylus (translation by Richmond Lattimore)
from University of Chicago
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: Literature (Location: ZCLE-LIT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Aeschylus II: The Oresteia
The Complete Greek Tragedies
by Aeschylus (translation by Richmond Lattimore)
3rd edition from University of Chicago
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.00
Aeschylus' Oresteia
Penguin Classics
by Aeschylus (translation by Robert Fagles)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$17.00
Aeschylus' Oresteia
by Aeschylus, translated by Peter Meineck
from Hackett Publishing Company
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$13.50
Aeschylus' Oresteian Trilogy
Penguin Classics
by Aeschylus, translated by Phillip Vellacott
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$13.00 $7.00 (1 in stock)
All's Well that Ends Well
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
for 10th grade-adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$3.50
All's Well That Ends Well
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Anton Chekov: Plays
by Anton Chekhov
from Franklin Library
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Antony and Cleopatra
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
Historical Tragedy for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$4.00
Antony and Cleopatra
Oxford School Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.95
Antony and Cleopatra
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
As You Like It
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
Comedy for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
As You Like It
by William Shakespeare
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.95
As You Like It
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
As You Like It
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by Hugh Thomson
from Gramercy Books
Comedy for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Bacchae and Other Plays
Penguin Classics
by Euripides (translation by John Davies)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Tragedy for 11th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$12.00
Bacchae and Other Plays
Penguin Classics
by Euripides (translation by Phillip Vellacott)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Tragedy for 11th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$13.00
Birds and Other Plays
by Aristophanes
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
Comedy of Errors
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
for 10th grade-adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$3.00
Comedy Of Errors
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
Comedies (drama) for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan
by William Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Drama for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$29.95
Complete Works of William Shakespeare - 2 Volumes
by William Shakespeare
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Coriolanus
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Crucible, The
by Arthur Miller
from Dramatists Play Service
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Cyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand
from Bantam Books
Drama for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Cyrano de Bergerac
Dover Thrift Editions
by Edmond Rostand
from Dover Publications
Drama for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.00 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Cyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand
from Heritage Press
Drama for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Cyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand, translated by Brian Hooker
1963 Reprint from Heinemann Educational Books
Drama for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Death of a Salesman
by Arthur Miller
from Penguin Putnam
American Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Death of a Salesman
Viking Critical Library
by Arthur Miller, edited by Gerald Weales
from Viking Press
American Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Euripides I
by Euripides
from University of Chicago
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$12.00
Euripides III
by Euripides
2nd edition from University of Chicago
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Euripides: The Trojan Women and Hippolytus
by Euripides
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$2.50
Everyman and Other Miracle and Morality Plays
Dover Thrift Editions
by Anonymous
from Dover Publications
Medieval Drama for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$5.00 $1.50 (7 in stock)
Faust
by Goethe
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Faust: A Tragedy
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated by Martin Greenberg
from Yale University Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Four Plays by Aristophanes
by Aristophanes
from Meridian Book
for 11th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$16.00
Frogs and Other Plays
by Aristophanes
Revised from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams
5th edition from New Directions
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams
from Dramatists Play Service
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Goethe's Faust
by Goethe, Walter Kaufmann (translator)
from Anchor Books
for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$12.95
Hamlet
The Pelican Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare
from Penguin Putnam
Tragedy for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Hamlet
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$5.00
Hamlet
by William Shakespeare
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$10.99
Hamlet
by William Shakespeare
from Ignatius Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Hamlet
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
for 10th grade-adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Hamlet
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by W. G. Simmonds
from Gramercy Books
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Henry IV Part I
by William Shakespeare, edited by Frederic W. Moorman
from D. C. Heath and Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Henry IV, Part 1
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
Historical Drama for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Henry IV, Part 2
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
Historical Drama for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Henry IV, Part I
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$3.00
Henry V
Oxford School Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare & Roma Gill, editor
from Oxford University
Historical Drama for 7th-10th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Henry V
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
Historical Drama for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$4.00
Henry V
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
Historical Drama for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Henry VI Part 1
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
Historical Drama for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Henry VI Part 2
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
Historical Drama for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Henry VI Part 3
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
Historical Drama for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Henry VIII
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
Historical Drama for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Ideal Husband
Dover Thrift Editions
by Oscar Wilde
from Dover Publications
Drama for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00
Importance of Being Earnest
Dover Thrift Editions
by Oscar Wilde
from Dover Publications
Drama/Comedy for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00
Importance of Being Earnest
Dover Thrift Editions
by Oscar Wilde
from Signet Classics
Drama/Comedy for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.95
Jew of Malta
by Christopher Marlowe
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$2.00
Julius Caesar
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
Historical Tragedy for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$4.00
Julius Caesar
Oxford School Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare & Roma Gill, editor
from Oxford University
Historical Tragedy for 7th-10th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$5.95
Julius Caesar
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Julius Caesar
Ignatius Critical Editions
by William Shakespeare, edited by Joseph Pearce
from Ignatius Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Julius Caesar With Reader's Guide - Set
by William Shakespeare, Helene Cunningham
from Amsco School Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
King John
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
King John and Henry VIII
by William Shakespeare
from Bantam Books
Historical Drama for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$5.99 $3.00 (2 in stock)
King Lear
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
Tragedy for Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$6.00
King Lear
Shakespeare Made Easy
by William Shakespeare
1st edition from Barron's
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
King Lear
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
King Lear
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Ignatius Press
Tragedy for Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
King Richard III
Cambridge School Shakespeare Series
by William Shakespeare
from Cambridge University
Historical Drama for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
King Richard III
Cambridge School Shakespeare Series
by William Shakespeare
from Cambridge University
Historical Drama for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$13.00
Love's Labor's Lost
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
Comedies (drama) for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Love's Labour's Lost
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$3.00
Lysistrata and Other Plays
by Aristophanes
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$12.00
Macbeth
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
for 10th-adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$5.00
Macbeth
Oxford School Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare & Roma Gill, editor
from Oxford University
Historical Tragedy for 7th-10th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$10.95
Macbeth
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-12th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Man and Superman
by George Bernard Shaw
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Man Born to be King
by Dorothy L. Sayers
from Classical Academic Press
Drama for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$23.95
Man for All Seasons
by Robert Bolt
1st Vintage Intl Ed April 1990 from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Measure for Measure
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Medea and Other Plays
by Euripides
from Penguin Putnam
Drama for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$11.00
Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$3.00
Merchant of Venice
Signet Classic
by William Shakespeare, Edited by Kenneth Myrick
from Penguin Putnam
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Merchant of Venice
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Merchant of Venice
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated in color by Sir James D. Linton and in b/w by Sir John Gilbert
from Gramercy Books
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare, Samuel Thurber, Jr. editor
1933 printing from Allyn and Bacon
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare
from Ignatius Press
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Merry Wives of Windsor
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by Hugh Thomson
from Gramercy Books
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Merry Wives of Windsor
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Midsummer Night's Dream
Oxford School Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare & Roma Gill, editor
from Oxford University
Comedy for 7th-10th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$10.99
Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
for 10th grade-adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$3.00
Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare
1st edition from Barron's
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by Byam Shaw
from Easton Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Midsummer Night's Dream
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Gramercy Books
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Midsummer Night's Dream
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
Drama for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
12