Huckleberry Finn /

Coming on the heels of the centennial of the publication of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with its compilation of old scholarship (Huck Finn Among the Critics, ed. by M. Thomas Inge, 1985) and assembling of new (One Hundred Years of Huckleberry Finn, ed. by Robert Sattelmeyer and Donald J. Crowley, CH, Oct '85; New Essays on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, ed. by Louis J. Budd, CH, Apr '86), British critic Harold Beaver attempts a synthesis of where we stand on the still-controversial reputation of the novel. He has read the extensive scholarship and summarized the major critical problems, but he goes on to suggest new insights and perspectives on unresolved cruxes in the text. Any critic, student, or general reader would do well to start a study of Huckleberry Finn with this brief and informative introduction. A glossary of colloquialisms, a selected bibliography, and an index usefully conclude the volume. Strongly recommended for libraries of all levels because of its clear style and accessibility.-M.T. Inge, Randolph-Macon College