Delving deeply into 19th-century sources, generations of readers’ responses and a wide range of Twain’s writing, Levy...
Rediscovering Twain’s most widely read novel.
As Levy (English/Butler Univ.; A Brain Wider Than the Sky: A Migraine Diary, 2009, etc.) acknowledges, anyone writing about Huckleberry Finn must feel “a healthy dose of humility” in the face of a plethora of literary criticism: His notes and bibliography comprise more than a third of this book. Yet he manages to offer fresh insights about the novel’s two central themes—children and race—by investigating Twain’s life and times and the changing cultural contexts in which the book has been read. In the 1870s and ’80s, Levy asserts, Twain was surprised by the love his children generated in him; children became his subject, and he aimed to bring them vividly to life. He responded, too, “to the pernicious twin narratives of his era—the reversal of political advances for blacks and the reframing of American children as the ‘enemy.’ ” His novel “was a bomb thrown” into a vociferous debate about children’s essential nature (were they savages? criminals? innocents?), how children should be raised and educated, and what they should—and should not—read. From the first, the novel proved controversial: Some critics saw it as a nostalgic paean to boyhood; others, that the defiant, illiterate, unrepentant Huck was an influence “not altogether desirable.” Controversy also arose over Twain’s contradictory messages about race. Although he empathized with blacks, he unabashedly loved minstrelsy and wanted “to revive the complicated subversion” of his youthful awakening to blacks’ vital culture. Twain’s capitalizing on blackness strikes Levy as analogous to today’s marketers who look to “black, Latino, and transitional neighborhoods to uncover new trends in fashion, music, and language.”
Delving deeply into 19th-century sources, generations of readers’ responses and a wide range of Twain’s writing, Levy complicates the possibilities of what the novel meant for its contemporaries and what it might mean for readers today.Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-1439186961
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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