Gold Miners & Guttersnipes: Tales of California by Mark Twain (review)

Reviews 279 the back cover: “Sturdy, close-grained, plumb. Fine finish. Poems milled to bear and last.” BILL WITHERUP Seattle, Washington Honey Girl. By Madge Harrah. (New York: Avon Camelot, 1990. 120 pages, $2.95.) An adventure yarn with a plucky heroine, Madge Harrah’s Honey Girl depicts life on the Mississippi in the early 20th century. Starting anew, twelveyear -old Dorothy Stahmann and her Wisconsin farm family float down the river to Arkansas with a barge crowded with beehives. Interesting characters, bursts of action, plus a strong sense of place and time contribute to this short tale’s success. For this reader, Dorothy called to mind another spunky young heroine, Mattie Ross in Charles Portis’ True Grit. Winner of the Western Writers of America’s Golden Spur Award for Best Juvenile Fiction of 1990, Honey Girl is deserving of adult readership for any number of deft touches that cause it to transcend its age bracket. JAMES B. HEMESATH Adams State College Gold Miners & Guttersnipes-.Tales of California. By Mark Twain. Selected, with an introduction, by Ken Chowder. (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1991. 209 pages, $10.95.) “Mark Twain was born in the West. Samuel Clemens, of course, was n o t. ..” claims Ken Chowder in his introduction to this collection of Mark Twain’s California writings. Chowder then outlines Twain’s experiences in California, providing helpful context for these short excerpts from essays, newspaper articles, fiction, speeches, and letters. The pieces are loosely grouped according to subject, covering such diverse topics as “Society Pages,” “Forty-Niners,” and “Religion & Morality.” They are well chosen; besides being very funny, they provide a fascinating glimpse of day-to-day life in 1860s California and are the right length for easy browsing. Also included is a selected bibliography for those who want to know more. DANA BRUNVAND WILLIAMS Utah State University American Indian Literature:An Anthology. Revised edition. Edited by Alan R. Velie. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991. 373 pages, $14.95.) This edition of American Indian Literatureboasts a contemporary slant. Gone are the songs meticulously transcribed in native tongues with accompanying ...