As I Lay Dying is considered by many both the most enigmatic and the most accessible of Faulkner's major works. The novel lends itself to a range of interpretations, posing both challenges and opportunities. Part 1 of this volume offers an extensive guide to reference materials helpful for both reading and teaching the novel;the essays in part 2 examine the historical, geographical, and cultural aspects of the novel; consider it as a modernist narrative; address gender, materiality, language, and family dynamics; and discuss the novel in comparative and intertextual terms.