'Janiform Novels' and Other Literary Essays gathers 25 essays by Cedric Watts, MA, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of English at Sussex University. Previously published in a diversity of magazines and books, these conveniently-gathered literary discussions deal with such authors as Sophocles, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Marvell, Milton, Defoe, Richardson, Jane Austen, Emily Bront , Conrad, Hemingway, Graham Greene, William Golding, Samuel Beckett and Chinua Achebe. Topics include covert plotting, the conceit of the conceit, the fallacies of structuralist and post-structuralist literary theory, delayed decoding, Shakespeare's scepticism, Conrad's opposition to racism and imperialism, Hemingway's profoundly ambiguous style, and L vi-Strauss's ludicrous naivety. Cedric Watts's critical writings have been described as 'fearless', 'perceptive', 'provocative', 'incisive' and 'entertaining' (Neil Sinyard, Graham Greene Newsletter).