Kaleidoscope

This innovative multicultural reader gathers together diaries histories autobiographies short stories and excerpts from novels to bring the many facets of the American experience to life from sixteenth-century explorations to this century''s ongoing saga of immigration and acculturation. Extending the traditional boundaries of the American literary canon the editors first offer a comprehensive overview of the history of multicultural social and literary patterns in the United States and then present a wealth of richly diverse stories--construing that term in the broadest possible sense--from both celebrated and lesser-known authors emphasizing pluralistic experience. Whenever possible they present narratives of cross-cultural contact and exchange rather than reports of cultures observed in isolation. Offering a uniquely broad range of readings within a strong thematic structure Kaleidoscope is an enjoyable and enlightening reader for anyone interested in American literature and history or the new emphasis on multiculturalism.