&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RThe Waste Land and Other Poems&&L/I&&R, by &&LB&&RT. S. Eliot&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R&&LI&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R: &&LDIV&&R - New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars - Biographies of the authors - Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events - Footnotes and endnotes - Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work - Comments by other famous authors - Study questions to challenge the readers viewpoints and expectations - Bibliographies for further reading - Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences-biographical, historical, and literary-to enrich each readers understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R &&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&RConsidered the most important poem of the twentieth century, &&LB&&RT. S. Eliot&&L/B&&R's &&LI&&RThe Waste Land&&L/I&&R is an oblique and fascinating view of the hopelessness and confusion of purpose in modern Western civilization. Published in 1922-the same year as Joyce's equally monumental &&LI&&RUlysses&&L/I&&R-&&LI&&RThe Waste Land&&L/I&&R is a series of fragmentary dramatic monologues and cultural quotations that crossfade into one another. Eliot believed that this style best represented the fragmentation of society, and his poem portrays a sterile world of panicky fears and barren lusts, and of human beings waiting for some sign or promise of redemption. Mirroring the destruction and disillusionment of World War I, &&LI&&RThe Waste Land&&L/I&&R had the effect of a bomb exploded in a genteel drawing room, just as its author intended.&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&RThis volume also includes &&LI&&RPrufrock and Other Observations&&L/I&&R (1917) and &&LI&&RPoems&&L/I&&R (1919). Prufrock contains the poem that first put Eliot on the map, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," in which the title character is tormented by the difficulty of articulating his complex feelings. Among other masterpieces, &&LI&&RPoems&&L/I&&R features "Gerontion," a meditative interior monologue in blank verse-a poem like none before it in the English language.&&LBR&&R&&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LSTRONG&&R&&L/B&&R &&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LSTRONG&&RRandy Malamud&&L/B&&R&&L/B&&R is Professor of English and Associate Chair of the department at Georgia State University. His specialty is modern literature, and he has written three books and numerous articles about T. S. Eliot.&&L/P&&R&&L/DIV&&R