Huck Out West

September 26, 2016
With gusto and a rollicking plot, Coover tackles the daunting task of crafting a sequel to a Mark Twain classic. Using a line from the original novel’s penultimate sentence—“I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest”—Coover (The Brunist Day of Wrath) takes Huck, the wide-eyed adventurer, to the Plains states, with much of the story set in “Minnysota.” Huck admits he’s “sometimes homesick for the Big River,” but he rarely looks back, save for a passing reference that helps ground the reader. He and Tom ride for the Pony Express for a few years, before Tom leaves him to marry Becky Thatcher. Huck even has a surprise reunion with Jim, who has found Jesus, been freed from slavery, and is currently looking for the rest of his family. This is American Indian country, mostly Lakota but also Cherokee, the latter of whom Huck calls “Southern gentlemen, living high off the hog.” After Tom leaves, a savvy Union soldier named Dan Harper takes Huck under his wing, before he and his company are massacred by the Lakota. The characters are colorful, with names such as Pegleg, Yaller Whiskers, and Eyepatch. Huck finds love and there’s the inevitable return of Tom, whose adult mischief is more sinister than his teen antics. A lively and fast-paced encore for a beloved American hero.

Narrator Eric Michael Summerer portrays all-American scamps Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer as they head out west in search of fortune and adventure. This sequel to THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER and ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, by Mark Twain, sounds tonally and attitudinally authentic. Summerer handles the portrayals of the characters, including their accents, with empathy and a pleasing casual attitude. Summerer lets Huck's sympathetic and gently comical voice shine even when Huck feels pain and loneliness when Tom returns to the East to read for the law and be with his new wife. Summerer enthusiastically delivers the many twists and turns in Huck's new adventures, delighting fans of Twain's famous character. R.O. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine