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Title: Run away! Run away!
Review: Don't waste your money on this one.I happily (because I didn't waste my money) borrowed this from a local academic library. I'm glad I read it, because I learned a lot about what I don't like.Bloom doesn't like Lord of the Rings, so why he even bothers to assemble these old, dated, and tired essays is beyond me, unless it is to make money off the LOTR craze. His one-page introduction is an insult; he doesn't ever explain why he included any of the essays in this collection nor does he contribute any insight regarding Tolkien's work (I suspect he didn't have any).I was amused, then annoyed by what he included: outdated Jungian comparisons to the Hobbit, a poorly-written history of the publication of Lord of the Rings. The one notable exception is Tom Shippey's chapter from Road to Middle Earth, but you're better off reading Shippey's book, or any of his books, than wasting your time with this one.
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