Description:
"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."
Review Quotes:
"Every now and then a book comes along that illuminates Mark Twain's literature like a lightning flash, startling us about how casually we have overlooked a fundamental truth. "Heretical Fictions" is such a work, boldly redrawing the map of Twain studies and ingeniously tracing a vital path of thought that underlies his major writings."--Alan Gribben, author, "Mark Twain's Library: A Reconstruction"
"Every now and then a book comes along that illuminates Mark Twain's literature like a lightning flash, startling us about how casually we have overlooked a fundamental truth. is such a work, boldly redrawing the map of Twain studies and ingeniously tracing a vital path of thought that underlies his major writings."--Alan Gribben, author,
"Every now and then a book comes along that illuminates Mark Twain's literature like a lightning flash, startling us about how casually we have overlooked a fundamental truth. is such a work, boldly redrawing the map of Twain studies and ingenious