The smallest and most economical member of the Kennedy/Gioia family, Backpack Literature is a brief paperback version of the discipline's most popular introduction to literature anthology. Like its bigger, bestselling predecessors, Backpack Literature features the authors' collective poetic voice which brings personal warmth and a human perspective to the discussion of literature, adding to students' interest in the readings. New selections have been added including four new one-act plays to help “ease” students into the study of this genre. The new plays include two comedies-- David Ives’s, Sure Thing and Jane Martin’s Beauty—as well as Terrence McNally’s poignant Andre’s Mother and Edward Bok Lee’s experimental drama El Santo Americano.