Book excerpt: "This new series by Salem Press explores the genre of myths, folktales, legends, and other traditional literature. The first title in the series, drawing upon the most dramatic and fantastical stories of human relations, is Love, Sexuality, and Desire. Each title offers familiar and unfamiliar myths, from a diverse range of countries and cultures, as well as important retellings in the modern tradition. Fairy tales, myths, legends and folktales written from 5000 B.C.E. to the modern era are covered. Those analyzed include Cupid & Psyche, Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere, Aphrodite and Adonis, Pyramus and Thisbe, Beauty and the Beast, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Snake Maiden. What's more, the countries and cultures from which these myths come are worldwide. Included are Greek, Mesopotamian, Iraqi, African, Roman, North American, Indian, Afghani, Japanese, European, South American, Serbian, Irish, Chinese, and Egyptian myths and folktales. Articles begin with a contextual overview of the important cultural and social currents surrounding the myth and the life of the author. A summary offers readers the major actions and characters in a myth followed by an in-depth analysis drawing upon scholarship in the field." -- Publisher's description.