New Essays on My Ántonia ed. by Sharon O’Brien (review)

b o o k Review s 479 legacy and blacks themselves invisible,” Fishkin quits the perfor­ mance and, after one last look at the river and its radiant promise, quits Hannibal to pick up her search in Elmira, Hartford, and in the constant vivifying of Twain and his image in popular culture (40). As the culm ination of her fact-finding journey into Twain country, Fishkin assembles her thoughts into an entertaining and illuminating book that is as accessible to readers as Huck’s straight­ forward vernacular. In the end, Fishkin’s defense of her literary mentor, Mark Twain, becomes a defense of fiction itself; focusing on the continued controversies surrounding The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Fishkin pleads for “irreverence” (122, 186) in the mind of readers (school children especially), who must know the truth in order to “straighten out the mess we’ve made of the world” (122). Finally, Fishkin reminds us that to read Twain closely, as Twain read the river, is to be forward-looking: to risk losing the charm of the object in sight, perhaps, though only as a necessary means to opening up the possibility of ultimately gaining “more than we lose” (125). Readers of Fishkin’s book will enjoy journey­ ing along on her retrospective and “forward-looking” search for “the Am erican” Mark Twain. And while sitting with Fishkin in the “Mark Twain Diner,” readers will learn the truth of the man who defines him self in his own perceptions of America. As Fishkin reminds us, Twain “insisted on taking Am erica seriously, and he insisted on not taking Am erica seriously” (203). Fishkin’s book is a valuable addition to Twain studies, as it helps readers to see better and more clearly the irony of his insights, while becoming better able to see themselves in the persistent and still relevant truths inherent in the man “Mark Twain” and his works. New E ssays on My Antonia. Edited by Sharon O ’Brien. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. 140 pages, $17.95. Reviewed by George F. Day University of Northern Iowa, Waterloo This is the latest volume in Cambridge University’s “The American Novel” series. The announced purpose of these books is to provide critical guides to great works of American literature and to cre­ ate “a forum of interpretative methods and of the best contemporary ideas” (x). There being no shortage of Cather criticism these days, the con­ tributors to this collection are compelled to serve up new and provoca­ tive approaches to a novel for which Cather felt a special affinity. They are successful in doing this, and their work does indeed reflect some of 4 8 0 WAL 3 4 .4 WINTER 2 0 0 0 the important critical methods of our time. The volume opens with a long, superbly written introduction by editor Sharon O ’Brien. An excellent account of the history of M } Antonia, it covers C ather’s writing career up to 1918, examines in detail the circumstances surrounding publication, and illustrates C ather’s persistent struggle to m aintain her novel’s aesthetic integrity. O ’Brien concludes this by discussing critical attitudes toward the novel from the time it was first published up to and including the four essays in this collection. O ’Brien’s introduction is the best part of the book. Clear and succinct, it is a valuable record that is well worth reading. The first essay in the collection, “Time, Change, and the Burden of Revision” by Miles Orvell examines Cather’s literary relationship with Sarah Orne Jewett and draws a comparison between The Country of the Pointed Firs and M 51 Antonia. Orvell concludes that Cather’s novel is, in effect, a “revision” of Jewett’s work, partly because of Cather’s concern with time, which anticipates the premier concern of many modern writers. Thus Orvell considers Cather’s fic­ tion to be a unique blend of regionalism, naturalism, and modernism. Cather’s regionalism is given a new twist by Elizabeth Ammons, who speculates that the early Virginia years of Cather influenced her powerfully in a number of different ways. Am m ons’s essay, “M 7 Antonia and Afro-Am erican A...