Thanks Larry. That Thoreau quote reminds me of what I wrote in an essay on 
Thoreau (posted in full at the Thoreau Institute website). The connections 
between Twain and Thoreau don't begin and end with huckleberries. I wrote:

These two names are not often linked but they are literary kinsman just the 
same. Both had a sly sense of humor, both lost brothers dear to them in 
tragic accidents, both rebelled against slavery, both rejected war, and both 
wrote books that transport the reader down life-changing rivers. They also 
share the distinction of writing books that resonate so deeply that many 
readers return throughout their lives to reread them . . . . Mark Twain may 
have traveled further afield albeit less extensively than Thoreau, quarreled 
more openly with God, lived larger and ambled across a wider stage, but both 
lit out for the territory in their literary imaginations and envisioned an 
America that would someday realize its promise.

Kevin
@
Mac Donnell Rare Books
9307 Glenlake Drive
Austin TX 78730
512-345-4139
Member: ABAA, ILAB
*************************
You may browse our books at:
www.macdonnellrarebooks.com


-----Original Message----- 
From: Larry Howe
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2018 7:58 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: BOOK REVIEW: _Huckleberry Cookbook_ by Alex & Stephanie Hester

Kevin--=0A=
=0A=
Thanks for closing with the recommendation to pick huckleberries in the wil=
d.  Thoreau reminds us that there is only one way to taste a huckleberry:=
=0A=
=0A=
The fruits do not yield their true flavor to the purchaser of them, nor to =
him who raises them for the     market. There is but one way to obtain it, =
yet few take that way. If you would know the flavor of    huckleberries, as=
k the cowboy or the partridge. It is a vulgar error to suppose that you hav=
e tasted =0A=
huckleberries who never plucked them. A huckleberry never reaches Boston; t=
hey have not been known there since they grew on her three hills. The ambro=
sial and essential part of the fruit is lost with the bloom which is rubbed=
off in the market cart, and they become mere provender. As long as Eternal=
Justice reigns, not one innocent huckleberry can be transported thither fr=
om the country's hills.  ("The Ponds," _Walden_)=0A=
=0A=
--LH=0A=
=0A=
Larry Howe=0A=
Professor of English & Film Studies=0A=
Department of Literature and Languages=0A=
Roosevelt University=0A=
Editor, Studies in American Humor=0A=
Vice-president, Mark Twain Circle of America=0A=
=0A=
=0A=
=0A=
=0A=
________________________________________=0A=
From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Kevin Mac Donnell <i=
[log in to unmask]>=0A=
Sent: Monday, May 7, 2018 7:49 AM=0A=
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: BOOK REVIEW: _Huckleberry Cookbook_ by Alex & Stephanie Hester=
=0A=
=0A=
Dang, you're on to me.=0A=
=0A=
Truth be told, at the last few conferences at Elmira and Hannibal I was=0A=
struck by how undernourished my fellow Twainians looked, and how little the=
y=0A=
drank, so I thought bringing this book to their attention would be a kind o=
f=0A=
public service.=0A=
=0A=
Kevin=0A=
@=0A=
Mac Donnell Rare Books=0A=
9307 Glenlake Drive=0A=
Austin TX 78730=0A=
512-345-4139=0A=
Member: ABAA, ILAB=0A=
*************************=0A=
You may browse our books at:=0A=
www.macdonnellrarebooks.com=0A=
=0A=
=0A=
-----Original Message-----=0A=
From: Peter Salwen=0A=
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2018 7:28 AM=0A=
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: BOOK REVIEW: _Huckleberry Cookbook_ by Alex & Stephanie Hester=
=0A=
=0A=
Thanks, Kevin. As usual, an entertaining & enlightening essay disguised as=
=0A=
a book review.=0A=
=0A=
On Mon, May 7, 2018, 7:01 AM Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> wrote:=
=0A=
=0A=
> The following book review was written for the Mark Twain Forum by Kevin=
=0A=
> Mac=0A=
> Donnell.=0A=
>=0A=
> ~~~~~=0A=
>=0A=
> _The Huckleberry Cookbook_. By Alex & Stephanie Hester. TwoDot, 2017.=0A=
> Second Edition. Pp. 158. Hardcover $19.95. ISBN 978-1-4930-2836-8. Ebook.=
=0A=
> ISBN 978-1-4930-2837-5.=0A=
>=0A=
>=0A=
> Many books reviewed on the Forum are available at discounted prices from=
=0A=
> the TwainWeb Bookstore, and purchases from this site generate commissions=
=0A=
> that benefit the Mark Twain Project. Please visit <http://www.twainweb.ne=
t=0A=
> >=3D=0A=
> .=0A=
>=0A=
>=0A=
> Reviewed for the Mark Twain Forum by=0A=
> Kevin Mac Donnell=0A=
>=0A=
>=0A=
> Copyright (c) 2018 Mark Twain Forum. This review may not be published or=
=0A=
> redistributed in any medium without permission.=0A=
>=0A=
>=0A=
>=0A=
> Huck Finn's name signifies an insignificant (huckleberry) Irish child=0A=
> (Finn). The stereotypical Irishman of the nineteenth century was a=0A=
> drunkard=0A=
> and thief, and Irish immigrants frequently were met by signs in shop=0A=
> windows reading "No Irish Need Apply." Although Irish women could get job=
s=0A=
> as housekeepers, Irish males were more often hired as day laborers and=0A=
> rarely hired as butlers or allowed to work in a home; African-American=0A=
> males were more often hired as house-servants than Irish-American males.=
=0A=
> If=0A=
> African-Americans occupied the bottom rung of the social ladder during an=
d=0A=
> after slavery, Irish-Americans, who flooded into the country in the 1840s=
=0A=
> to escape the cruelties of British rule and forced starvation (not=0A=
> famine),=0A=
> were only one rung up the ladder--which bred resentment and racism. Huck=
=0A=
> was the son of Pap Finn, the town drunk, an Irishman who need not apply,=
=0A=
> nor should his son.=0A=
>=0A=
>=0A=
> None of this is mentioned in this wonderful cookbook. In fact there is no=
=0A=
> mention of Mark Twain at all even though every page glorifies=0A=
> huckleberries. The introduction credits Henry David Thoreau as the first=
=0A=
> American writer to seriously study the huckleberry, tracing them back to=
=0A=
> 1615 when explorer Samuel de Champlain noted that Native Americans=0A=
> harvested them. Next comes Captain William Clark (of Lewis & Clark fame)=
=0A=
> who describes them in 1806. They were used for food, for dyes, and as=0A=
> medicine. They were mixed with meats, and also mashed and dried and made=
=0A=
> into cakes. Early settlers took their lead from Native Americans and=0A=
> likewise made good use of them. During the Great Depression "huckleberry=
=0A=
> camps" attracted eager pickers, especially in the northwest, and by 1937=
=0A=
> the huckleberry industry had developed enough to require regulation.=0A=
>=0A=
>=0A=
> Not all huckleberries are the same; there are three dozen species of=0A=
> huckleberries in North America, and they have been mistaken for=0A=
> blueberries, and called by other names: hurtleberries, bilberries,=0A=
> dewberries, and whortleberries. Grizzly bears love them, and no wonder:=
=0A=
> the=0A=
> aroma of huckleberries can permeate a plastic bag (NB: double bag them=0A=
> when=0A=
> freezing them for storage). In some regions huckleberry bushes grow barel=
y=0A=
> two feet high, but in other climates they grow over five feet tall. They=
=0A=
> tend to grow best on sloping ground, but thrive at both lower elevations=
=0A=
> and at 6,500 feet. Most huckleberries are smaller than blueberries, and=
=0A=
> unlike blueberries they tend to grow further apart on the bush rather tha=
n=0A=
> in clumps like blueberries. Anyone who has tasted fresh huckleberries and=
=0A=
> fresh blueberries knows that huckleberries will win any flavor contest=0A=
> hands down. Huckleberries have a balanced (not too sweet, not too sour)=
=0A=
> lingering taste and a complex texture that makes blueberries seem dull in=
=0A=
> comparison. There is nothing insignificant about huckleberries.=0A=
>=0A=
>=0A=
> Recipes for huckleberries are nearly endless, and this beautifully=0A=
> illustrated book combines clear concise recipes with brilliant color=0A=
> photographs that are literally mouth-watering. For those interested in th=
e=0A=
> lore of huckleberries, informational side-bars on huckleberry history and=
=0A=
> legend are sprinkled among the recipes throughout the book. Traditional=
=0A=
> recipes for jams, pies, and pancakes are included, but the reader is=0A=
> warned=0A=
> not to read this book outside of huckleberry season (which is brief, from=
=0A=
> late July to early September) unless there is a good stock of=0A=
> huckleberries=0A=
> in the freezer. Otherwise, what will you do when you see huckleberry ice=
=0A=
> cream, huckleberry cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting, huckleberry=
=0A=
> seafood salad, grilled rib-eye with huckleberry caramelized onions, roast=
=0A=
> duck with huckleberry hoisin, baby back ribs with huckleberry BBQ sauce,=
=0A=
> pan-seared salmon with huckleberry sauce (something any bear would love),=
=0A=
> baked huckleberry doughnut holes, vichyssoise with huckleberry swirl,=0A=
> huckleberry crumb cake, huckleberry cobbler, huckleberry cr=3DC3=3DA8me=
=0A=
> brulee,=0A=
> huckleberry frozen margaritas, or huckleberry banana smoothies? The=0A=
> variety=0A=
> of desserts, pastries, sauces, drinks, glazes, jams, spreads, appetizers,=
=0A=
> salads, breakfast items, breads, and main entrees is dazzling. Simply=0A=
> looking at the superb photographs without some huckleberries at the ready=
=0A=
> is torture.=0A=
>=0A=
>=0A=
> Gift shops in Hannibal and Hartford and elsewhere stock huckleberry=0A=
> products like jams, syrups, soaps, lotions, and drinks, and this cookbook=
=0A=
> deserves a place of honor alongside such huckleberry products. Twain's=0A=
> last=0A=
> home at Stormfield was surrounded by huckleberry fields and Twain was=0A=
> reported to have loved huckleberry pie. Too bad he didn't have this=0A=
> cookbook handy, but there's no reason any Twainian foodie should have to=
=0A=
> suffer today. The wild huckleberry has yet to be domesticated and raised=
=0A=
> commercially. One of the wonderful things about huckleberries is their=0A=
> wildness, their boldness, and their resistance to being civilized like th=
e=0A=
> blueberry. But if that day ever comes, true Twainians will light out for=
=0A=
> the territory (Trout Creek, Montana, the huckleberry capital of the world=
,=0A=
> to be exact) to pick their own. If they're smart they'll bring along a=0A=
> copy=0A=
> of this book.=0A=
>=