LAUSR

effort to learning the new formats and recommendations in order to implement them in their teaching and scholarship. The MLA Handbook (8th ed.) now represents the official style of the Modern Language Association; however, its pages seem primarily directed toward students. Indeed, the work has a clear focus on educating. Notes in the margins, visual aids, and other organizational structures facilitate both reading and learning. Though it might take some time before actual usage catches up with the changes in this manual, the MLA Handbook, in my opinion, will effectively address citation needs for years to come. As Kathleen Fitzpatrick clearly recognizes: “Change is perhaps the one constant of contemporary academic life” (xiii). Resistance to change is equally inevitable. And yet, I am confident that the MLA Handbook’s flexible yet consistent citation style will ultimately be praised as a visionary approach. Though less detailed in its description of specific citation scenarios, this new manual might actually be the most comprehensive MLA style guide yet, due to its focus on principle-based adaptability and commonsense usage. David P. Wiseman American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese