'The excellence of this collection lies in its achieving its two central aims: to provide 'theoretical demonstrations' - examples or models of reading Hardy's stories and poems in light of a variety of critical theories - and, while doing so, to analyze important characteristic features of the stories and poems. The result is a series of always lucid, frequently brilliant, essays by well-known English, Australian, and American writers. While adopting famous theoretical concepts with a skill that will allow students to see the grounds for their approaches, the authors bring to bear on Hardy remarkable insight and originality that will reward the professional reader and enthusiast.' - Dale Kramer, Professor of English Emeritus, University of Illinois