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Subject:
From:
Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 18 Jan 2001 16:33:59 -0600
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The Mark Twain Forum needs a book reviewer for the following:

Carl F. Wieck, _Refiguring Huckleberry Finn_ (Univ. of Georgia Press,
2000).

The text from the jacket reads:

Much about _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ is ageless, yet its author was
completely immersed in the age in which he wrote. _Refiguring Huckleberry
Finn_ looks at ways contemporary American culture and history influenced
the formation of Mark Twain's masterwork. It also shows how the novel
reflects Twain's deep investment in what Carl F. Wieck calls "an
open-minded, unbiased perception of the well-springs of the American
spirit."

Clearly, Twain knew the Mississippi River and its people well. With
Frederick Douglass, William Dean Howells, Ulysses S. Grant, and John Hay
(Abraham Lincoln's personal secretary) among his friends, Twain also knew
America. That understanding, Wieck shows us, is richly evident in
_Huckleberry Finn_ by the ways Twain explored themes of justice, rights,
knowledge, and truth; engaged with the thoughts of Douglass, Lincoln, and
Thomas Jefferson; and expressed concern over the public discourse on race
and equality.

In addition, in discussions that range from number play in the novel to the
symbolic potential of the Mississippi's awesome, one-way flow, Wieck looks
closely at Twain's storytelling craft. Filled with new and challenging
insights, _Refiguring Huckleberry Finn_ reintroduces us to one of our
greatest novels and one of our finest novelists.

"A hymn to the novel, meditating it word by word and even number by
number.... The result is that we understand better than ever before many
touches and episodes."
- Louis J. Budd

Title: Refiguring Huckleberry Finn
Author: Carl F. Wieck is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Translation
Studies, Tampere University, Finland.
ISBN: 0-8203-2238-5
Pub date: November 22, 2000
Price: $40.00
~~~~~

The book is 239 pages (66 pages are reference notes and index.)

As usual, the review must be of publishable quality, and it would be due
within two months of your receipt of the book (i.e., due the first of
April.)  The deadline is particularly important.  In all fairness to
publishers and authors, if you are inclined to procrastinate, or have
difficulty meeting deadlines, please do not offer to review this book.

If you would like to see the general content and style of Forum reviews,
please browse the reviews page at TwainWeb:

http://www.yorku.ca/twainweb/reviews/

A link to the style sheet is at the bottom of the reviews page.

If you're interested in writing this review, please send me both your home
and institutional mailing addresses and phone numbers.  Please include a
brief explanation regarding your qualifications to review this book.

Thanks,
Barbara Schmidt
Book review editor, Mark Twain Forum

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