Folks;

I believe that news of my own review of FINN in the St. Louis Post-D
circulated on this LIST earlier, but I do wish to add a few comments of
Kent's excellent review.

1]  it is an interesting addition to the emerging genre of fiction that some
are calling "prequels"--as in WICKED.  The Star Wars prequels were obviously
created by the originators, but these other prequels are not, and I believe
that this allows a sort of ironic sensibility to be depended upon by
contemporary readers as they approach these fictions.  I.e, nobody would
read WICKED and then argue very much about its plausibility in relation to
Baum's original story, would they?

2]  ***spoiler alert***   !!!!!

Despite point #1, it seemed to me altogether predictable that the revelation
of Huck's racial origins would cause quite a stir in American culture.  For
some, I had predicted, it would border on the blasphemous.

Why has FINN flown under the radar so far?

In other words, in these days of extreme coverage of Don Imus (including a
piece on 60 minutes last night), racial issues never fail to draw big
crowds, so in fact I would say the relative LACK of controversy so far about
FINN is a little surprising to me.  I guess it just has not sold very well
yet, despite the huge publicity.

I would have thought there would be even more controversy.

Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, MO