MIDDLE AMERICA MEETS MIDDLE-EARTH.

Investigates the public perception of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" in the U.S. during the late 1960s. Reasons why the book has provoked a wide variety of reactions; Legal copyright status of "The Lord of the Rings"; Discussion of how the book related to its rapidly expanding, almost uniformly youthful readership; Elements that underlay some of the hostility more sophisticated readers have displayed toward "The Lord of the Rings."