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Heretical Fictions: Religion in the Literature of Mark Twain
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Heretical Fictions: Religion in the Literature of Mark Twain Paperback - 2010 - 1st Edition

by Lawrence I. Berkove; Joseph Csicsila


From the publisher

Challenging the prevailing belief that Mark Twain s position on religion hovered somewhere between skepticism and outright heresy, Lawrence Berkove and Joseph Csicsila marshal biographical details of Twain s life alongside close readings of his work to explore the religious faith of America s most beloved writer and humorist. They conclude not only that religion was an important factor in Twain s life but also that the popular conception of Twain as agnostic, atheist, or apostate is simply wrong.

"Heretical Fictions" is the first full-length study to assess the importance of Twain s heretical Calvinism as the foundation of his major works, bringing to light important thematic ties that connect the author s early work to his high period and from there to his late work. Berkove and Csicsila set forth the main elements of Twain s countertheological interpretation of Calvinism and analyze in detail the way it shapes five of his major books "Roughing It," " The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," " Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," " A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," and" No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger" as well as some of his major short stories. The result is a ground-breaking and unconventional portrait of a seminal figure in American letters.

Details

  • Title Heretical Fictions: Religion in the Literature of Mark Twain
  • Author Lawrence I. Berkove; Joseph Csicsila
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition number 1st
  • Edition 1
  • Pages 271
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher University of Iowa Press
  • Date 2010-08
  • Features Bibliography, Index, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9781587299032 / 1587299038
  • Weight 0.85 lbs (0.39 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 in (22.61 x 14.99 x 2.29 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Religion in literature, Twain, Mark - Religion
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2010002373
  • Dewey Decimal Code 818.409

Media reviews

Citations

  • Choice, 07/01/2011, Page 0

About the author

Lawrence I. Berkove is a professor emeritus of English at the University of Michigan Dearborn. He is the editor of "The Fighting Horse of the Stanislaus" (Iowa), "The Sagebrush Anthology: Literature from the Silver Age of the Old West," and "The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain" and coeditor of" The Short Fiction of Ambrose Bierce, " as well as numerous articles on Twain s major novels, short fiction, travel literature, religious values, and the Sagebrush School associates. Joseph Csicsila is a professor of English at Eastern Michigan University. He is the author of "Canons by Consensus: Critical Trends and American Literature Anthologies," co-editor of "Centenary Reflections on Mark Twain s No.44, The Mysterious Stranger," and of the "Prentice Hall Anthology of American Literature, "editor of "The Gilded Age"," " and review editor of the "Mark Twain Annual."

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Heretical Fictions: Religion in the Literature of Mark Twain
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Heretical Fictions: Religion in the Literature of Mark Twain

by LAWRENCE I. BERKOVE; Joseph Csicsila

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