viii, 301 pp. Jacket price-clipped, with a small black mark on fore edge of dj. Small black mark on pastedown. Contents: On reading early fiction -- Acting out ideas in Sidney's theory -- Pastoral romance: Sidney and Lodge -- Courtly fiction: Gascoigne and Lyly -- Robert Greene and Greek romance -- Thomas Nashe and the Elizabethan "realists" -- Thomas Deloney and middle-class fiction. ''After Robert Greene had administered to his readers a dose of sage advice against love, he offered them a role to play in order to complete their education: 'if these Aphorismes be too enigmaticall, become a Lover, and experience will quickly set thee downe a comment.' ''