Synopses & Reviews
Long before moving pictures were invented, youngsters from eight to eighty were being charmed by a special kind of animated cartoonandmdash;the word sketches of Mark Twain. His descriptions and episodes involving animals have all the life of a Walt Disney production with the added advantage of the great wit and artistry of Twainandrsquo;s proseandmdash;something which could never be captured in pictures alone.
A Mark Twain sketch may begin as an ordinary cartoon: a camel eating the authorandrsquo;s coat. You can see the scene, and itandrsquo;s very funny: the camel andldquo;opening and closing his eyes in a kind of religious ecstasy, as if he had never tasted anything as good as an overcoat before in his life.andrdquo; But then comes the Twain touch. The camel finds some newspaper correspondence, starts to eat it, and andldquo;dies a death of indescribable agony, choking on one of the mildest and gentlest statements of fact that I ever laid before a trusting public.andrdquo;
Over and over again, Twain goes beyond mere humor to turn his portraits into truthful, though sometimes unflattering, insights into the world and human nature. For most of Twainandrsquo;s animals are andldquo;as human as you be.andrdquo;
Synopsis
One volume coverage of Twainandrsquo;s treatment of the ever-popular subject of animals, which includes original paintings and drawings by well-known New England artist Robert Rochandeacute;.
About the Author
Minnie M. Brashear was a professor of English at the University of Missouri and coeditor with
Robert M. Rodney of
The Birds and Beasts of Mark Twain (1966), also published by the University of Oklahoma Press. Rodney was professor of English at Northern Illinois University.
Minnie M. Brashear was a professor of English at the University of Missouri and coeditor with Robert M. Rodney of The Birds and Beasts of Mark Twain (1966), also published by the University of Oklahoma Press. Rodney was professor of English at Northern Illinois University.
Robert Rochandeacute; is known for his animal paintings and his portraits of famous Americans such as Eleanor Roosevelt.