Review by Choice Review
This collection of critical essays about 18th-century literature and late-20th-century film is about Falstaff, Freddy Krueger, The Canterbury Tales, Die Hard 3, and dozens of other characters and works seldom, if ever, discussed in the same book. They all appear here for one reason: Budra and Schellengerg believe that only wide-ranging analysis can shatter some widely held misconceptions about what sequels are and what they can achieve. The editors dispute the commonplace notion that sequels almost always fail as fully developed artistic works. They also deny the simplistic belief that sequels are inevitably the result of an author's desire to exploit an earlier success. In one intriguing essay, Lianne McLarty shows that Hollywood movie sequels do not merely exploit success, but rather use major shifts and adjustments to co-opt and subvert challenges from social and cultural critics. Until now, little has been written about sequels that would be of much interest to scholars. But this collection--with its provocative, wide-ranging arguments--begins to fill that void. The only thing the volume lacks is an index. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. J. Aber; College of Mount St. Joseph
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
