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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 808
EAN num: 9780312433475
ISBN number: 0312433476
Label: Bedford/St. Martin's
Manufacturer: Bedford/St. Martin's
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 432
Printing Date: December 24, 2007
Publishing house: Bedford/St. Martin's
Sale Popularity Level: 497749
Studio: Bedford/St. Martin's
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Rated by buyers 
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I used this for years teaching developmental English. The book has fine, concise notes on the modes of writing, and it has CONCISE, one-paragraph examples of each type. Very clear. Gets the teaching right to the point for all concerned. Also the essays are short but punchy, even entertaining. The writers are all very first class. For my style, it's a perfect fit.
Rated by buyers 
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This review was written about the seventh edition. I have just received the eighth edition. It is very similar, but there have been some advances from the version reviewed here. The eighth edition includes emphasis on the concept of the thesis which was lacking in this and previous editions of the Compact Reader. There is a section about creating a thesis in its discusion of each essay type. Likewise, the new book provides basic information about the MLA documentation system and writing MLA papers. I just received the book the other day, so I can't make an informed review of the new edition yet.
I have taught this book in an introduction to Composition course at a community college where the majority of students are African American or immigrants from the Caribbean and Latin American. I adopted it simply because it was the most inexpensive "reader" in the selection of books we had at the time.
The book tries to cover too many modes of exposition. Only in one semester was I insane enough to try to teach even 1/2 of the essays offered in this text. This book would be a lot more useful if it went slower, and provided more education for the student.
Breaking the essays down into fewer general patterns that are more basic about writing and the writing process would be a big help.
In the very first chapter where Aaron presents "The Box Man" by Barbara Ascher, her explanation of the essay is very useful and very illuminating to my students. However, after that, she really says nothing about the essays that are but asks questions. A bit more in the text book is really required to get the students thinking about the different essays and what they mean. She needs to go on like this a bit more.
At the same time, there are not enough notes to explain things that students may not be aware of in the essays that I have worked with in this book. I am always supplementing what Aaron says with my own research. Sometimes, I am correcting her.
I would like this book if it had half as many essay, and much more explanation of the essays that are projected.
The book also has only one "sample student essay." I think such essays are very important for students. I think having several, particularly when essays require completely different structures or approaches. Curiously, her sample student essay is a very good "response essay," but her text book doesn't teach the response essay. While reading the very well written professional essays printed here by experienced writers are great, there is such a large gap between those essays and what even the best student can write, that they do little help.
Having a set of sample student essays, or even one showing the different stages of the writing process for each type of essay might be much more useful for the students. Moreover, I do think the one student essay she has is fairly good for its purpose. Aaron avoids the frequent problem of textbooks that have "sample student essays" that this professor, who has been published for 39 years, would feel proud to have written. Examples need to be closer to what actual students are really writing, what problems they have, and what they can actually achive.
The biggest problem is how to really inject real teaching into a composition course. The problems that I mention, particularly too many modes of exposition taught in this book and the need for more and more realistic student essays are not unique to this book but sypmtomatic of composition books in general.
An additional problem, particularly for an instructor is that this is not a very sturdy book. It usually falls apart on me during each semester and then I have to struggle to get another one from our Bedford support person. That is no big deal for me, in fact, I have the pertinent chapters copied to my computer, but for students who are being extorted beyond belief to buy textbooks, this can be a real tragedy.
Rated by buyers -
I don't care much for the textbook part of it -- it's wordy and too prescriptive. But it has lots of readable examples of essays from a diverse group including: James Thurber, Ellen Goodman, Bruce Catton, Langston Hughes, Mark Twain, and others. It's hard to find a better bunch of non-fiction writers in one spot. If you ignore much of the intra-essay content, it is a good collection.
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