The Big Bear of Arkansas

The Big Bear of Arkansas PDF

Author: William T. Porter

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-09

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 9781331056881

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Excerpt from The Big Bear of Arkansas: And Other Sketches, Illustrative of Characters and Incidents in the South and South-West A new vein of literature, as original as it is inexhaustible in its source, has been opened in this country within a very few years, with the most marked success. Up to the period when the publication of the first American "Sporting Magazine" was commenced - at Baltimore, in 1829 - and which was immediately followed by the publication, in New York, of the "Spirit of the Times," there existed no such class of writers as have, since that recent day, conferred signal honour on the rising literature of America. The New York "Constellation," then edited by that favoured disciple of Momus, the late Dr. Green, was the only journal in the country which preferred any claim to popular favour on the ground of being expressly devoted to wit and humor - to the fun and frolic, the flash and fashion of the day. But the novel design and scope of the "Spirit of the Times" soon fixed attention; and erelong it be came the nucleus of a new order of literary talent. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Southern Frontier Humor

Southern Frontier Humor PDF

Author: Thomas Inge

Publisher: University of Missouri Press

Published: 2010-05-12

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 0826272207

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If, as some suggest, American literature began with Huckleberry Finn, then the humorists of the Old South surely helped us to shape that literature. Twain himself learned to write by reading the humorists’ work, and later writers were influenced by it. This book marks the first new collection of humor from that region published in fifteen years—and the first fresh selection of sketches and tales to appear in over forty years. Thomas Inge and Ed Piacentino bring their knowledge of and fondness for this genre to a collection that reflects the considerable body of scholarship that has been published on its major figures and the place of the movement in American literary history. They breathe new life into the subject, gathering a new selection of texts and adding Twain—the only major American author to contribute to and emerge from the movement—as well as several recently identified humorists. All of the major writers are represented, from Augustus Baldwin Longstreet to Thomas Bangs Thorpe, as well as a great many lesser-known figures like Hamilton C. Jones, Joseph M. Field, and John S. Robb. The anthology also includes several writers only recently discovered to be a part of the tradition, such as Joseph Gault, Christopher Mason Haile, James Edward Henry, and Marcus Lafayette Byrn, and features authors previously overlooked, such as William Gilmore Simms, Ham Jones, Orlando Benedict Mayer, and Adam Summer. Selections are timely, reflecting recent trends in literary history and criticism sensitive to issues of gender, race, and ethnicity. The editors have also taken pains to seek out first printings to avoid the kinds of textual corruptions that often occur in later versions of these sketches. Southern Frontier Humor offers students and general readers alike a broad perspective and new appreciation of this singular form of writing from the Old South—and provides some chuckles along the way.

Encyclopedia of American Humorists

Encyclopedia of American Humorists PDF

Author: Steven H. Gale

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-14

Total Pages: 1324

ISBN-13: 1317362268

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First published in 1988, this book contains entries on famous American Humorists. Humor has been present in American literature, from the beginning, and has developed characteristics that reflect the American character, both regional and national. Although American literature was, in the past, treated as inferior to British literature, there has always been a large popular audience for the genre, which this book shows. The figures with entries in this encyclopedia not only amuse in their writing, but also aim to enlighten- setting out to expose the foibles and foolishness of society and the individuals who compose it. It is the manner in which these authors try to accomplish this end that determines whether they appear in the volume. Indeed, the book will demonstrate that the best humor has at its base, a ready understanding of human nature.