A best-selling anthology since its first edition, this premier survey of American literature has influenced the manner in which the American literary canon is taught in classrooms across the nation. In response to readers' requests, the editors of the Heath Anthology continue to develop and reinforce its greatest strengths: diverse reading selections and strong ancillaries. With the assistance of more than 200 contributing editors all specialists in particular eras and writers the editors have updated biographical and critical information, as well as added new works of interest to both instructors and students.

The Fourth Edition features writers and selections that highlight the divergent communities and diverse voices constituting the United States, both past and present. Volume 1 takes students from Native American oral literatures up to 1865, including Whitman and Dickinson. Volume 2 (which can be packaged with a free supplement of Whitman and Dickinson works) opens with African American folk tales and regional writers, and includes new sections on the Beat Movement and the Vietnam Conflict.

• Full-length texts continue to be integrated throughout the anthology, including The Scarlet Letter in Vol. 1 and The Awakening in Vol. 2.
• The textbook web site complements both volumes of the text through a searchable, multimedia timeline with literary, historical, and cultural information; author profile pages; links to other sites for further research; and an online version of the Instructor's Guide.
• The Southern literature section includes two short stories by William Faulkner, Dry September and Barn Burning, and an essay by H.L. Mencken, TheSahara of the Bozarts. Coverage of border literature includes the work of novelist María Amparo Ruíz de Burton. In addition, gay and lesbian writers such as Dorothy Allison, James Merrill, and Richard Rodriguez are featured throughout.