by Lin Carter

isbn: 034527539X
subject: Nonfiction
finished: 12/27/1998

This is a collection of essays about The Lord of the Rings, including a short Tolkien biography, a summary of the plot, discussion of its place within the genre, a partial list of Tolkien's sources, and some analysis of fantasy in general. The plot summary is out of place -- it seems unlikely that somebody would want to read this book without having read Tolkien. The rest of the book varies from bland to moderately interesting; I'd say it's worth at most a skim.