A useful addition to Twain scholarship—one that may inspire many to reread the Inimitable himself.
Mark Twain considered his writing the key feature of his life; this new biography takes him at his word.
As one would expect, Emerson (English, Emeritus/North Carolina) tracks down Twain’s writings and relates them to the events of his life. While there is a natural tendency to concentrate on the best-known fiction—Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee—Emerson has also unearthed a wide variety of lesser-known work, including early journalism, a few works published anonymously (e.g., the scatological 1601), and various fragments published posthumously. There is ample citation of letters, notebooks, and other material that normally interests only Twain scholars. Emerson also draws effectively on such recent discoveries as the first part of the manuscript of Huckleberry Finn to illuminate the often complex process by which Twain’s work was put together. He argues that as Samuel L. Clemens became more affluent and yearned to become more respectable, the authentic voice of “Mark Twain”—the rowdy, iconoclastic frontier persona of his early work—was less frequently heard in his writings. Olivia Clemens (“Livy”), the author’s wife, did her best to steer him toward the kind of genteel literature that would sit well with the Eastern establishment she represented. Along with literary friends like William Dean Howells, she valued The Prince and the Pauper above Huck Finn. Much of the strength of Huck, according to Emerson, may arise from its embodiment of the author’s instinctive rebellion against the “civilizing” influence of Livy, who read, edited, and effectively censored all his mature work. Twain suppressed some of his best writing (e.g. “Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven”) until after her death. Emerson’s treatment of his subject is sometimes dry, but he quotes Twain’s own work often enough to keep things lively.
A useful addition to Twain scholarship—one that may inspire many to reread the Inimitable himself.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8122-3516-9
Page Count: 392
Publisher: Univ. of Pennsylvania
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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