Mark Twain and the art of the tall tale / Henry B. Wonham.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wonham, Henry B., 1960-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910--Technique.

Twain, Mark.

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910.

Tall tales--United States--History and criticism.

Tall tales.

Oral tradition--United States.

Oral tradition.

Technique.

United States.

Narration (Rhetoric).

Fiction--Technique.

Fiction.

Physical Description:

viii, 207 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 1993.

Summary:

Mark Twain and the Art of the Tall Tale is a study of a peculiar American comic strategy and its role in Mark Twain's fiction. Focusing on the writer's experiments with narrative structure, Wonham describes how Twain manipulated conventional approaches to reading and writing by engaging his audience in a series of rhetorical games--the rules of which he adapted from the conventions of tall tale in American oral and written traditions. Wonham goes on to show how Twain's appropriation of the genre developed through the course of his career, from The Innocents Abroad to Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Pudd'nhead Wilson. This eminently readable study will interest Twain enthusiasts and students of nineteenth-century American literature, as well as anyone interested in American humor and oral narrative traditions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0195078012

OCLC:

25746875