Mark Twain and the spiritual crisis of his age / Harold K. Bush, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bush, Harold K. (Harold Karl), 1956-2021.

Series:

Studies in American literary realism and naturalism.

Studies in American literary realism and naturalism

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christianity and literature--United States--History--19th century.

Christianity and literature.

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910--Religion.

Twain, Mark.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (354 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The writer's fascination with America's spiritual and religious evolution in the 19th century. Mark Twain is often pictured as a severe critic of religious piety, shaking his fist at God and mocking the devout. Such a view, however, is only partly correct. It ignores the social realities of Twain's major period as a writer and his own spiritual interests: his participation in church activities, his socially progressive agenda, his reliance on religious themes in his major works, and his friendships with clergymen, especially his pastor and best friend, Joe Twichell. It also bet

Contents:

Mark Twain's roots : Hannibal, the river, and the west

Mark Twain's wife : the moral ethos of the Victorian home

Mark Twain's pastor : Joe Twichell and social Christianity

Mark Twain's liberal faith : the social gospel on Asylum Hill

Mark Twain's Civil War : civil religion and the Lost Cause

Mark Twain's American Adam : humor as hope and apocalypse

Mark Twain's grief : the final years.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [311]-331) and index.

ISBN:

0-8173-8129-5

OCLC:

209074347