characters

Explores the true history, folklore, and mythology behind the magical practices, creatures and personalities that appear in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.

Presents a comprehensive study of the two women behind the legendary "Nancy Drew" mystery books, and describes how the characters and her "author" Carolyn Keene were actually invented by Edward Stratemeyer, who also created the Bobbsey Twins and the Hardy Boys.

Ring Lardner remains one of the best baseball writers. Both characters and their counterparts have entries, as do the plots and details of some 35 stories devoted to baseball. But Lardner was more versatile, writing 92 hard-to-categorize non-baseball stories, focusing on athletes, writers, theatrical people, musicians, soldiers, embarrassed husbands, and puzzling wives.

A dictionary with over three thousand entries, covering all thirty-six of Shakespeare's plays along with his poems and sonnets, with contextual information for names, quotations from plays, and historical notes.

A guide to the major and minor characters of Shakespeare's plays, arranged alphabetically by work. Includes act-by-act plot summaries and an essay on significant themes in each piece.

Presents photo-filled profiles of the creatures created for the "Lord of the Rings" films, particularly "The Two Towers," providing details on how they were made and commentary by the actors.

Identifies more than fifty themes in J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" book series that parallel Christian gospel and argues that the works are not threats to the Christian faith.

Contains a collection of essays that examine the literary character, Willy Loman, from Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman" and includes a discussion of how Loman's character is used as short hand for a variety of American experiences in politics, business, and sociology.

Presents eleven essays spanning 1909-1998 on Shakespeare's ebullient, hard-drinking character Falstaff, covering such topics and themes as his rejection by Henry, his language, his roles, the "carnivalesque," and mortality.

Analyzes the characters Rodion Raskolnikov and Arkady Svidrigailov from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment".