A survey of American literature from its 16th-century origins to its flourishing present, this sixth edition offers the work of 242 writers - 30 newly included - representing the extraordinary wealth and diversity of American literature. Among the many works included in their entirety are Hawthorne"s "The Scarlet Letter", Thoreau"s "Walden", Douglass"s "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave", Clemens"s "Huckleberry Finn", Chopin"s "The Awakening", Faulkner"s "As I Lay Dying", "Williams"s "A Streetcar Named Desire", Larsen"s "Quicksand", Ginsberg"s "Howl", Mamet"s "Glengarry, Glen Ross" and Parks"s "The America Play". Informative introductions, headnotes, footnotes and bibliographies accompany the text.