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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wonham, Henry B., 1960- author.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910--Technique.

Twain, Mark.

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

Tall tales.

Oral tradition--United States.

Oral tradition.

Narration (Rhetoric).

Fiction--Technique.

Fiction.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (218 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York ; Oxford University Press, 2023.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This study examines the oral genre of the tall tale as manipulated and embellished in the writing career of Mark Twain. Offering insight into the works of a major American author, the book also sheds light on an important American comic tradition.

Contents:

Contents; Introduction: ""The World Is Grown Too Incredulous""; 1. The Emergence of Tall Narrative in American Writing; 2. Mark Twain's Development as a Literary Yarn Spinner; 3. Joyous Heresy: Travelling with the Innocent Abroad; 4. The Tall Tale as Theme and Structure in Roughing It; 5. The River as Yarn: ""Old Times on the Mississippi""; 6. The Contest for Narrative Authority in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; 7. The Disembodied Yarn Spinner and the Reader of Huckleberry Finn; Conclusion: The Eclipse of Humor; Notes; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; W; Y

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 1993.

Includes index.

Derived record based on print version record and publisher information.

ISBN:

0-19-772514-7

1-280-44262-X

1-4237-3692-3

0-19-536019-2

1-60129-899-4

OCLC:

191946597