Turn of the Screw, The by Henry James, Deborah Esch, Jonathan Warren (Editors); 1898/1999. Softcover. (Norton Critical Editions) (CO)

One of literature's most gripping ghost stories depicts the sinister transformation of 2 innocent children into flagrant liars and hypocrites. Elegantly told tale of unspoken horror and psychological terror creates what few stories in literature have been able to do — a complete feeling of dread and uncertainty.

This text is the first-and only-modern text to follow the New York Edition, the one which had James's final authority.

Contexts includes twenty-six selections, from James's letters, notebooks, and other writings during the period 1863-1908, centering on the ghost story, the supernatural and, in particular, "my little book," The Turn of the Screw.

Also reproduced are four paintings by Charles Demuth.

The essays in Criticism span one hundred years, providing a rich array of perspectives on James and his story.

Representing contemporary reactions are pieces by Henry Harland, John D. Barry, Oliver Elton, William Lyon Phelps, and Virginia Woolf.

The section also includes landmark criticism by Harold Goddard, Edna Kenton, Edmund Wilson, Katherine Anne Porter, Robert B. Heilman, R. P. Blackmur, Maurice Blanchot, and Leon Edel.

Recent, fresh approaches to James's work are presented by Tzvetan Todorov, Shoshana Felman, Henry Sussman, Bruce Robbins, Ned Lukacher, Paul B. Armstrong, and T. J. Lustig.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are included.