Writing Huck Finn by Victor Doyno is an ambitious and detailed book that attempts to shed new light on Mark Twain's classic novel. The novel itself is, of course, a hallmark of American literature. It is widely read and is the subject of a great deal of scholarly debate. Thus, Doyno asks the question: "Is it possible to say or think anything new about Huck?" In an effort to answer this question, Doyno has turned his attention to four relatively unstudied sources. The first, and perhaps most important, is a portion of the manuscript for Huck Finn that he began to study twenty years ago. For Doyno, it has played a crucial role in changing the way he approaches and thinks about the novel. The manuscript contains what Twain wrote in the years 1883 and '84, when he resumed work on the novel after puttig it away in 1876. The first part of the manuscript, which is neglected in this study, was thought to be lost forever until it was unearthed in 1991, to the delight of scholars. Doyno's book, however, was already in production. The portion he studies corresponds to 55% of the novel. All told, Twain made roughly 1000 changes to that part of the manuscript. Doyno examines, in great detail, a number of these changes, "looking over the author's shoulder" to trace the evolution of the characters in Twain's mind and gaining insight into Twain's creative process. The popular theory that Twain was a careless, "naive genius" is put to rest when one sees how self-concious Clemens was about language and how the narrative voice of "Mark Twain" was presented.

For instance, in the final text, the character Huck Finn is devoid of sexuality -a sensitive subject and doubtless one that most parents woudl not want their children reading about. And if Huck did have a sexual nature, then he would not be the innocent character we know him to be. This, however, was not the case in the orignial manuscript: "there weren't no back down to her, if I know a girl by the rake of her stern" and Huck also sees her "kinder throw a kiss back at me"(manuscript 351-352). Twain chose to send both of these remarks "to the gallows" so as not to taint Huck in any sexual manner. Many changes of this type were made for considerations of tone and characterization.

While writingHuck Finn Twain was keeping a journal of the remarks of his children. Doyno looks at the journal and its influence on the voice of Huck in the novel. Twain and William Dean Howells both felt that most children's books did not capture a child's voice accurately(41). Twain, however, was very sensitive to the direct and literal way children thought and spoke. Huck is ignorant of many of society's conventions, and this ignorance often provides the reader with an entirely new perspectve on these very conventions. Doyno uses Huck's take on Uncle Silas Phelps, the preacher, as an example. Uncle Silas does not pass around a collection plate during church service, which prompts Huck to say that he "never charged nothing for his preaching"(MS 497-8). Doyno links this incident in the novel to one that Twain recorded in his journal. When Twain's daughter, Clara, discovered it was her father's birthday, she gave him one of her toys. When she took the toy back the next day, she was asked why she did so. She replied, "I only gave it to him for his birthday" meaning she did not give it to him forever'(42).

Doyno gives considerable notice to the letters that Twain received while writing Huck Finn and the comments he made on them. These letters give the reader a glimpse into Twain's personal relationship with the outside world at the time of writing Huck. Many of these letters highlight his fears concerning international copyright law and the problem of piratical publication. Huck Finn addresses issues of copyright, or property of mind, or who is in control. The tension between Tom's "European" literacy and Huck's new "American" literacy parallel Twain's own attempts to break free from European literary rules and tradition.

Doyno also looks closely at the laws in the United States, specifically the laws that were around when the book was being written. During these years of Reconstruction, it was not uncommon for a freed Black man to be imprisoned in the South and treated as a slave. Doyno suggests that Tom's re-enslaving of Jim, a man he knows to be legally free, may be linked to this historical reality. Doyno warns the modern reader to hesitate before he directs his "moral outrage" at Twain for the disappointing ending and reflect on what was going on in the South at the time.

This is only a brief glimps of what the book offers, for it would require a good deal more than 800 words to give a comprehensive critique of the book. But it contains some valuable stuff, and I recommend giving it a look.