The Bible and Literature: The Basics provides an interpretive framework for understanding the significance of biblical allusions in literature-even for readers who have little prior knowledge of the Bible. In doing so, it surveys the Bible's influence on a broad range of English, American, and other Anglophone literatures from a variety of historical periods. It also:

• offers a "greatest hits" tour of the Bible
• focuses as much on 20^th- and 21^st-century literatures as on earlier periods
• addresses the Bible's relevance to contemporary issues in literary criticism such as poststructuralist, postcolonial, feminist, queer, and narrative theories
• includes discussion questions for each chapter and annotated suggestions for further reading

This book explains why readers need a basic knowledge of the Bible in order to understand and appreciate key aspects of Anglophone literary traditions.