The Annotated Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain 
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"Michael Patrick Hearn, author of the national bestseller The Annotated Wizard of Oz, has done equal justice to this great American novel. A Twain literary sleuth and an authority on children's literature, he considers all the literary, social, historical, and autobiographical aspects of Twain's classic tale of Huck and Jim's trip down the mighty Mississippi. In lively and fascinating annotations, Hearn's notes draw on everything from letters, manuscripts, and contemporary newspapers to the show more author's own frequent revisions and notes, various critical responses to the publication, and much previously unpublished material. The substantial introduction is, in essence, a mini-biography of a book and a man whose real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), and it recounts the novel's remarkably prickly history, resulting in its being banned perhaps more than any other work in American history." "In this new edition, the characters of Hannibal, Missouri, come vividly alive, as if Hearn was steering the raft itself. We encounter, among others, the kindhearted Widow Douglas, the dreaded Miss Watson; the enlightened runaway slave Jim, whom Huck meets on Jackson's Island; an endless parade of thieves, slaveowners, and sheer opportunists; as well as Tom Sawyer and Aunt Sally, whose desire to adopt and "sivilize" Huck propels him to flee to the American West. Likewise, the Mississippi River "emerges as a living force regardless of the vain attempts of men to tame it." Hearn, by illustrating literary and historical themes that we never knew before, demonstrates that Huckleberry Finn did more than merely redefine the "bad-boy's book"; it galvanized and transformed world literature."--Jacket. show lessTags
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The ultimate Huckleberry Finn, complete with annotations and bibliography. Could be called Huck Finn in Context.
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The Guardian's 100 greatest novels of all time
100 works; 16 members
Author Information
Mark Twain was born Samuel L. Clemens in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. He worked as a printer, and then became a steamboat pilot. He traveled throughout the West, writing humorous sketches for newspapers. In 1865, he wrote the short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, which was very well received. He then began a show more career as a humorous travel writer and lecturer, publishing The Innocents Abroad in 1869, Roughing It in 1872, and, Gilded Age in 1873, which was co-authored with Charles Dudley Warner. His best-known works are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mississippi Writing: Life on the Mississippi, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Mark Twain has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1981
- People/Characters
- Mark Twain; Huckleberry Finn; Tom Sawyer; Jim [Huckleberry Finn]
- Important places
- Mississippi, USA; St. Petersburg, Russia; Victorville, California, USA
- Dedication
- In Memory of
Ada Fear Fisk.
-- M. P. H. - Disambiguation notice
- This annotated version of the original work, edited by Michael Patrick Hearn, contains extensive notes. Please do not combine with the original work.
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- Members
- 359
- Popularity
- 87,267
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.66)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 5
