This volume, published in honour of Dr. V. N. Dhavale, a distinguished scholar and an eminent teacher of English at Fergusson College Pune, succinctly points to the high esteem and deep affection in which this widely knowledgeable scholar-critic is held by his students and peers alike. The essays in this volume centre around the theme of critical theory and practice, a discipline close to the heart of Dr. Dhavale. The discourse covers close, in-depth revaluations of the classical formulations by plato and Aristotle, the role of analysis in literary criticism, the rise and persistence of feminism and post-modernism, pedagogy of literary criticism in India, formulation of a common poetics for Indian literature, reader-response theories vis-à-vis Western and Indian Aesthetics, comparative approaches in criticism, new historicism and its future directions, deconstruction and literary theory, and others. The range is comprehensive, the scrutiny is engaging; and the insights are refreshing and perceptive. The book should interest a great deal both the general reader and the specialist in the discipline of literary theory and criticism.