RUBEN QUINTERO (ed.), A Companion to Satire: Ancient and Modern.

Abstract

THE first thing to note about this book is that it is massive, over 600 pages. Such heft has advantages and disadvantages. On the negative side, it is expensive. One could hardly require undergraduates to buy it for use in a course (even though the Blackwell ‘Companion To’ series is somewhat aimed toward undergraduate consumption). One might hesitate to have graduate students purchase it, and college and university libraries could even gape a bit at the cost. So that's a practical consideration stemming from its size. Arguably, the volume might be guilty of over-introducing its topic as well. For some readers (that target audience of the novice?), there could be too much here to take in reasonably. One feels somewhat overwhelmed just when lifting this book. Switching now to the positive aspects of massive, this book obviously brings to readers a dazzling variety of topics relating to satire. There are twenty-nine separate essays in this collection, thirty if counting the orienting Introduction. Subjects range from ancient biblical satire to medieval satire to satire of the Spanish Golden Age to American satire to Irish satire to the satiric character sketch. The clichéd phrase ‘God's plenty’ unavoidably leaps to mind. There is a rich abundance of material here, surely something for everyone. That can only be good.