NOTE: THIS IS THE OUT OF PRINT, EARLIER VERSION OF MY TRANSLATION. PLEASE DO NOT BUY THIS OUTDATED VERSION OF THE BOOK. AMAZON WILL, I HOPE, PLEASE STOP SELLING THEM. PLEASE DO NOT BUY THIS OLD BOOK: SEARCH FOR THE SAME TITLE BUT WITH THE ADDED PHRASE "REVISED EDITION" IN BIG RED LETTERS. HERE IS THE LINK AND THE CORRECT ISBN NUMBERS. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SEARCHING FOR MY BOOK; I WANT YOU TO GET THE CORRECT COPY. ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0813237750 - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0813237756     Passionate about trying to create social justice in a time of crisis after the Black Plague, William Langland spent his entire life working on Piers Plowman , an epic study of the human quest for truth, justice, and community. The "A Version," the first and shortest of the three versions he crafted, is wonderfully relatable and completely teachable to a modern student audience. Piers Plowman is becoming ever more relevant to students and scholars in English studies. Perhaps because the poem involves culture, religion, community, and work and engages explicitly with the histories of government and popular revolt, this allegorical tale of a wandering Christian named "Will," searching for truth with the aid of a humble plowman named Piers, has found new critical and pedagogic life in the last 20 years. Currently there are no translations of the A-version of Piers Plowman in print, so readers, scholars and teachers have been longing for an affordable, student-centered translation. The apparatus includes a 30-page historical and critical introduction, footnotes, a bibliography, a note on translation theory and practice, and samplings of the original text in Middle English, with a guide to pronunciation of that language. Piers Plowman is an extraordinary important document about the issues dramatically relevant to this day. It confronts poverty and inequity in 14th-century England and explores the need for virtue and social justice, encouraging its readers to create equality with open access for people of all classes and abilities. Though a Christian poem, Piers addresses issues of inclusivity, social responsibility and communal duty, as the poem's protagonist wanders about the world, facing injustice and persecution as he looks for truth and salvation. Michael Calabrese, author of An Introduction to Piers Plowman and director of the Chaucer Studio's Middle English recording of the poem, brings Piers Plowman to life for 21st-century students and for all readers interested in the history of society, virtue, faith and salvation. "Will serve its readers well and fills a need for a readable translation... will also be useful to graduate students and to more general audiences interested in late-medieval English literature."―Mićeál F. Vaughan, University of Washington, Seattle ""This vivid new translation of the A-version of Piers Plowman by experienced Langland editor Michael Calabrese has the potential to unseat The Canterbury Tales as the go-to text for the medieval literature classroom. An introduction informed by Calabrese's own life sets the tone for a relatable read, as do footnotes forged in his east LA classroom. Entertaining and provocative, this rendering of a usually―though not this time―untameable poem is sure to become a quick favorite for its robust characters, fast-paced narrative, and read-aloud sound. Its lasting power, however, will be in the authenticity and fullness of its translation of societal ills and human struggle into a form immediately identifiable to any modern reader. While reading any version of Piers is a worthwhile endeavor, Calabrese's ought to be every student's first. It will undoubtedly guarantee a second."―Jennifer Smith, Pepperdine University "Michael Calabrese's introduction mediates the poem to a twenty-first-century audience. His translation is accessible and engaging, written in a somewhat casual tone that captures the character of the sleepy Will while maintaining the sense that important matters are being revealed. The retention of some Middle English vocabulary for which there is no modern equivalent is supported by insightful notes that are handily at the foot of the page so as not to interrupt reading with a shuffling back and forth to look for endnotes. Calabrese's choice of the A-text of Piers is highly intelligent. It is brief enough to teach as a whole rather than as the excerpts from texts B and C that normally have to suffice. Hence, Calabrese's work offers the possibility of teaching an integral Piers Plowman in modern English."―Patricia R. Bart, Hillsdale College "Langland has offered us a truly Catholic consideration of the great struggle that is human existence, one that requires, first and foremost, God's grace, but also our cooperation."― Crisis Magazine "A hugely entertaining, and inviting, romp through the earliest version of Langland's great Middle English poem. Calabrese's engaging approach will surely lure many students into the world of Piers Plowman , as