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= >=