Mark Twain and the Art of the Tall Tale

"Wonham's book has struck upon an innovative if not radically new approach to Twain's travelogues and major fiction which...ought to cause a stir in literary-critical circles generally and among Twainians particularly."--Gary Scharnhorst, University of New Mexico "This is a strong book on Mark Twain--strong in its conception, its scholarship, its execution, and in its clarity. Wonham sees just how central the tall tale is as a structural unit and as a form of narrative energy in Mark Twain's work. He has a comprehensive understanding of Mark Twain's humor, sees its strong commonsense element playing against the self-conscious exaggeration of the tall tale, and is remarkably free of the high-handed judgments that characterize so much Mark Twain criticism. The result is a central book on Mark Twain as a writer."--James M. Cox, Dartmouth College "This is a well-written, well-conceived book."--Susan K. Harris, City University of New York "Wonham has written a book that will be of interest to fans of the tall tale and Twainians in particular."--American Literature "We finish Wonham's study with a clearer sense of Clemen's aesthetics, how he envisioned narratives and audiences, as well as thoughtful interpretations of individual texts."--Western American Literature "If Henry B. Wonham's succinct book closes the era of Constance Rourke, it also opens a new period of the analysis of humor with its sophisticated yet commonsensical interpretations and its ability to synthesize and originate concepts at the same time. This is a worthy successor to the work of such pioneers as Walter Blair, Hamlin Hill, Kenneth S. Lynn and David E.E. Sloane. It will be quoted as often as it is consulted."--The Southern Quarterly "A thorough reassessment of the tall tale as an oral tradition peculiar to the American experience....[Wonham] provides the reader with an innovative understanding of the tall tale and a reinterpretation of the entire Mark Twain canon."--American Studies