Weighing GalaxiesManoa's Adam Bolton make a discovery in the relationship between galaxy mass and luminosity. Read moreDark Energy EvidenceManoa’s Istvan Szapudi, Mark Neyrinck and Benjamin Granett image dark energy in action. Read more
Astrochemistry GrantThe W.M. Keck Foundation supports research into the chemical evolution of the solar system. Read more
KudosManoa’s Maile Andrade, Matthew Craig, C Manu Kaiama, Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, Karen Kosasa, Geoff White and Vicky Holt Takamine and Hilo’s Robert Fox. Read more
BOR ReportPeter Quigley appointed interim vice chancellor and Hawai'i’s hospitality and tourism degree status established. Read moreMark Twain’s Early ReportingManoa’s James Caron publishes Mark Twain, Unsanctified Newspaper Reporter. Read more
UH EventsManoa’s Hawai‘i Institute for Contemporary Music, Hilo’s chocolate tasting event and more. Read more
Mark Twain’s Early Reporting
Manoa Associate Professor James Caron published Mark Twain, Unsanctified Newspaper Reporter.
Tracing the arc of Samuel Clemens’s career from self-described “unsanctified newspaper reporter” to national author between 1862 and 1867, Caron reexamines the early and largely neglected writings—especially the travel letters from Hawai'i and the letters chronicling Clemens’s trip from California to New York City. Caron connects those sets of letters with comic materials Clemens had already published, drawing on all known items from this first phase of his career—even the virtually forgotten pieces from the San Francisco Morning Call in 1864—to reveal how Mark Twain’s humor was shaped by the sociocultural context and how it catered to his audience’s sensibilities while unpredictably transgressing its standards.
Brimming with fresh insights into such benchmarks as “Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands” and “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog,” this book is a gracefully written work that reflects both patient research and considered judgment to chart the development of an iconic American talent.
Mark Twain, Unsanctified Newspaper Reporter should be required reading for all serious scholars of his work, as well as for anyone interested in the interplay between artistic creativity and the literary marketplace.
Mark Twain, Unsanctified Newspaper Reporter is available from the publisher’s website.