The Reader in the Text is a useful collection of essays on an important topic in contemporary criticism—the role of readers in interpreting literary works. Contributors include some of the most widely-read writers on the subject (Jonathan Culler, Wolfgang Iser, Gerald Prince, Norman Holland) as well as several critics less familiar to American readers (Jacques Leenhardt and Karlheinz Stierle, among many others). Susan Suleiman adds a helpful introduction on the "varieties of audience-oriented criticism" and Inge Crosman provides an annotated bibliography.