'All purposeful reading begins with careful close reading. Federico's engaging discussion, supplemented with excellent illustrations and a set of detailed sample close readings by major scholars and teachers, effectively de-mystifies this essential tool, opening new pathways to fuller understanding and greater appreciation of literature. This is an accessible and immediately useful contribution to literary studies.' Stephen C. Behrendt, University Professor ... Read moreand George Holmes Distinguished Professor of English, University of Nebraska, USA `Annette Federico's book reminds us it's okay to like what we read and gives us carefully explained ways to help us understand how to read closely. Her erudition is everywhere apparent as she moves dexterously from critic to critic and unpacks for us their tools. She does this is in an easy and direct prose that is reliably clear and refreshing. I think this book is a significant restorative for the rewards of reading literature.' Ralph Alan Cohen, Gonder Professor of English, Mary Baldwin College, USA 'The increasing attention being given today to the forms and textures of literary works is reflected in this lively book, which offers both an informed account of the resurgence of close reading in its many varieties and a useful set of exemplary readings.' Derek Attridge, Professor of English, University of York, UK 'Annette Federico's succinct and rewarding new study offers a finely attuned, perceptive and richly suggestive account of the current debate about the so-called `return to the text'. This is a book which makes a timely, thoughtful and fertile intervention in respect to our renewed attention to the words on the page.' Roger Ebbatson, Lancaster University, UK Show Less