In the main, I have found the Oxford short introductions very helpful. However, the authors in this series do not always manage to give the reader a good sense of how discussed theories are to be applied. This is manifestly not the problem with Robert Segal's Myth: A Very Short Introduction. In fact, I would say that this little volume is the very epitome that the authors of the upcoming very short introductions should emulate.



The special value of Segal's book is not only that he brings vast erudition to the composition of this work but that he is able to show it with clarity and brevity.



One of the features of the book that makes it a must purchase for those interested in myth is the breadth of the book. In one-hundred-sixty-three pages, Segal manages to cover all of the major schools of theories of myth and with a minimum of abstraction. But what is especially valuable about this survey is that he has applied the various theories discussed (literary, psychological, structuralist, and others) to a single constellation of myths, the Adonis cycle. One often finds applications of different theories to different myths--the equivalent of comparing nuts and berries to apples and oranges. One often wonders how they would stack up when competing to explain the same myth. Here, Segal has done much of that difficult work for the reader. This brilliant move is the rhetorical equivalent of the repetition of different explanations for the same phenomena. This demonstration, alone, is worth the price of the book.



Although accessible to a general audience, I would especially recommend this book for undergraduate students in myth studies courses, for graduate students preparing for their comprehensive examinations, and for academics wishing to brush-up on different approaches to myth.



Myth: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)Myths to Live ByI give it five stars.

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