A provocative, exuberant, and deeply researched investigation into Mark Twain s writing of America s favorite icon of childhood, " Huckleberry Finn" A boldly revisionist reading of Twain s" Huckleberry Finn" Twain s masterpiece emerges as a compelling depiction of nineteenth-century troubles still all too familiar in the twenty-first century ("Booklist," starred review).
In the groundbreaking ("Dallas Morning News") "Huck Finn s America," award-winning biographer Andrew Levy shows how modern readers have misunderstood "Huckleberry Finn" for decades. Mark Twain s masterpiece is often discussed either as a carefree adventure story for children or a serious novel about race relations, yet Levy argues, it is neither. Instead, "Huck Finn" was written at a time when Americans were nervous about 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 on 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.
An eye-opening, groundbreaking exploration of the character and psyche of Mark Twain as he was writing his most famous novel, Levy s book explores the soul of Mark Twain's enduring achievement with the utmost self-awareness...An eloquent argument, wrapped up in rich biographical detail and historical fact. ("USA TODAY"). "Huck Finn s America" brings the past to vivid, surprising life, and offers a persuasive argument for why this American classic deserves to be understood anew."