A collection of essays on the theory behind the study of mythology, covering the definition of myth, different ways to analyze them, and several analyses of various myths using some of these methods.
I enjoyed this, but it was darn hard to get through. It took me nearly a month to get through the entire thing (along with a few other books, admittedly) and almost nothing takes that long for me. Not what I'd recommend for light reading.
That said, it was incredibly interesting. The editor tried to bring together many different viewpoints, and seemed to succeed. Some parts were slightly repetitive, but this was due to the fact that he was trying to present a balanced picture. The most irritating thing about the book was that every author seemed to feel that their way was the only way to approach myth. Alan Dundes' own essay was a breath of fresh air, compared to that, as he seemed acutely aware that a single definition/method of analyzing myth would never suffice to totally explain their significance. Also, the last essay made me laugh out loud. The book was worth reading just to get to that. 9/10 ( )