As it says in the title, this is an informative collection of 501 mini biographies based on giants of literature. This book isn't really exhaustive, since as many have said it misses some people. I can give it the pass on that, since it would make the book many times longer to include everyone important. For instance, I like Frank Herbert's Dune. Frank Herbert isn't included. Does that make it bad? Well, no. If you consider this book to be a springboard into the world of literature then it does it's job pretty well.

What I liked: The book contains the authors in chronological order, so you can group them into periods and eras and whatnot. This is when they were born to when they died(obviously).
The author entries contain their most famous works along with the year they were written, allowing you to find those works.
The entries also might contain a photo or likeness of the author in question and a piece representative of their work. For instance, Miguel de Cervantes has the famous image drawn by Picasso of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
If you are looking for someone in particular the beginning of the book lists all of them in alphabetical order along with a page number.
Sometimes a quote by the author or from a work they did is included.
The book does not limit itself to just novelists; anyone that created something of note could be included. It also has playwrights and poets and essayists and journalists.

What I disliked: I mentioned this before, but the listing of 501 people just seems arbitrary.
There are people that were most certainly missed. I know this means that a lot of compromises had to be made, but still, a mention could have been made.
Some authors get four pages devoted to their lives and others might get a half of a page. I don't know the reason for that, but I assume it had something to do with what was relevant.

This book is good, but I suppose it could have been better. I don't know how, but I am certain there is a way. While we're at it, I also made a list of all the authors so that I could find them again in Goodreads or some other location. I am sure it's been done, but I needed some typing practice. ( )

Excellent reference book, and a good read besides. Comprehensive collection of the greatest writers from antiquity to the present. Has a slant toward English-speaking authors, but also has authors from many other countries, including Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, and France, as well as Eastern Europe and South America. Equally inclusive of women writers. The biographical entries are insightful and informative.

The book is organized chronologically, beginning with the writers of antiquity, such as Sappho Homer and Euripides, and ends with authors born in the 1970's. There are pictures of writers and book cover art, theater posters and movie stills.

I highly recommend this book. 5 stars!!! ( )

This book was an interesting collection of the must haves for any literati. The list was fairly even and covered all of the major literary time periods. It is recommended for those who are not sure what or who to read next. ( )