Booknews
A new edition of the who's who of over 1,400 fictional characterswhose names are sometimes so familiar it's difficult to rememberthey're imaginary. Included in the biographical parade is Ben Casey,Casper, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a compendium of high, low, and nobrow at all, each exactly recorded with a snippet of biographicalanecdote. The reference is as equally useful for scholarly work asit is for killing time in aimless pursuits of information.