Book excerpt: One of Chaucer's first proteges, Thomas Hoccleve (1368-1426) contributed with his Series to the genre of the framed narrative. The Series forms a central part of this collection, but editor Ellis (English, U. of Cardiff, UK) also presents some of Hoccleve's earlier poems alongside Hoccleve's more important work. Also presented are Hoccleve's own marginalia as an interpretive aid and a fairly extensive introduction placing Hoccleve's poetry in context. Distributed by David Brown Book Company. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR