Barbara Kingsolver's books have sold millions of copies. The Poisonwood Bible was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and her work is studied in courses ranging from English-as-a-second-language
classes to seminars in doctoral programs. Yet, until now, there has been relatively little scholarly analysis of her writings.
Seeds of Change: Critical Essays on Barbara Kingsolver, edited by Priscilla Leder, is the first collection of essays examining the full range of Kingsolver's literary output. The articles in
this groundbreaking volume provide analysis, context, and commentary on all of Kingsolver's novels, her poetry, her two essay collections, and her memoir, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of
Food Life.
Leder begins Seeds of Change with a brief critical biography that traces Kingsolver's development as a writer and includes an overview of the scholarship on Kingsolver's oeuvre. The book's
fourteen essays are divided into three sections that explore recurrent themes in Kingsolver's work: identity, social justice, and ecology. The contributors draw upon contemporary critical
approaches-ecocritical, postcolonial, feminist, and disability studies羅to extend established lines of inquiry into Kingsolver's writing and take them in new directions By comparing Kingsolver
with earlier writers such as Joseph Conrad and Henry David Thoreau, the essays place her canon in literary and cultural contexts, revealing, for example, how she reworks traditional narratives
such as the Western myth. They also address the more controversial aspects of her writings, examining her political advocacy and her relationship to her readers, in addition to exploring her
vision of a more just and harmonious world.
Fully indexed with a comprehensive works-cited section, Seeds of Change offers important insights and analysis that will deepen and broaden readers' understanding and experience of Barbara
Kingsolver's work.
Priscilla Leder has published articles in Mississippi Quarterly, Southern Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (ISLE), and Amerikastudien/American Studies. She is
professor of English at Texas State University羅San Marcos.
