In Search of Authority: An Introductory Guide to Literary Theory

W.J. Keith is a retired professor of English at the University of Toronto and author A Sense of Style: Studies in the Art of Fiction in English-Speaking Canada.

To say that a book “fills a long-felt want” too often expresses no
more than a polite cliché. In this case, however, the phrase is
justified. Bonnycastle has written a clear and straightforward
introduction for students to literary theory. While it would be
ingenuous to say that he has no axe to grind—one of his main
insistences is that we all have different axes to grind and that we
should be aware of them—he makes a genuine effort to be as impartial
as possible. In an important sense, he demystifies literary theory,
transforming it from an abstruse and elite ritual into what it ought to
be: intelligent and disciplined thinking about specific works of
literature and their relation to literature as a whole. Although the
book is directed toward intellectually curious undergraduates, it can be
read with profit by teachers in schools and universities—indeed, by
all who are interested in the implications of what they read.

This is a sensitive topic, and most readers who respond thoughtfully to
the book will have some reservations (Bonnycastle is, after all, making
a plea for dialogue, not monologue). My own main regret is that he has
little to say about the capacity of words to dance. To recognize this is
surely one of the main “pleasures of the text,” and the ability to
make words dance is, for me, what distinguishes the major writer. I also
have a slight stylistic quibble. Bonnycastle’s prose is mercifully
free of jargon—In Search of Authority is remarkable for its clear and
accessible English—though he does encounter some problems with his
pronouns. His professorial “you” verges at times on the
condescending, and I wish he had devoted more thought to the
difficulties of the gender-specific. As it is, he moves bewilderingly
from “he” to “she” in a way that I found highly
distracting—which is presumably what he intended to avoid.

But this is an admirable book—as well as being an attractively
produced one. Highly recommended.