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Author Levy, Andrew, 1962-

Title Huck Finn's America : Mark Twain and the era that shaped his masterpiece / Andrew Levy.

Imprint New York, NY Simon & Schuster, c2015.

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Main Library  ---  813.4 LEVY  CHECK SHELF
Phys. Description xxiv, 342 pages ; 24 cm.
text txt rdacontent
unmediated n rdamedia
volume nc rdacarrier
Bibliog. Includes bibliographical references (pages [201]-327) and index.
Contents Part One -- A new kind of entertainment -- Shiftless, lazy, and dadblasted tired -- Strange animals, to change their clothes so often -- An appeal in behalf of extending the suffrage to boys -- Boy No. 2 -- Part Two -- The trouble begins -- Twins -- The freedman's case -- Huckleberry Capone.
Summary In Huck Finn's America, biographer Andrew Levy shows how modern readers have been misunderstanding Huckleberry Finn for decades. Twain's masterpiece, which still sells tens of thousands of copies each year and is taught more than any other American classic, is often discussed either as a carefree adventure story for children or a serious novel about race relations, yet Levy argues convincingly it is neither. Instead, Huck Finn was written at a time when Americans were nervous about youth violence and "uncivilized" bad boys, and a debate was raging about education, popular culture, and responsible parenting, casting Huck's now-celebrated "freedom" in a very different and very modern light. On issues of race, on the other hand, Twain's lifelong fascination with minstrel shows and black culture inspired him to write a book not about civil rights, but about race's role in entertainment and commerce, the same features upon which much of our own modern consumer culture is also grounded. In Levy's vision, Huck Finn has more to say about contemporary children and race that we have ever imagined if we are willing to hear it.
Subject Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Twain, Mark, 1835-1910 -- Political and social views.
Twain, Mark, 1835-1910 -- Criticism and interpretation.
National characteristics, American, in literature.
Literature and society -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Boys in literature.
White people in literature.
Race relations in literature.
Fugitive slaves in literature.
United States -- Race relations -- History -- 19th century.
ISBN 9781439186961
1439186960