| FA-52871-07 | Research Programs: Fellowships for University Teachers | Jerome M. Loving, PhD | Mark Twain: The Mysterious Stranger [a biography] | 9/1/2007 - 8/31/2008 | $40,000.00 | Jerome | M. | Loving | | | | Texas A & M University, College Station | College Station | TX | 77843-0001 | USA | 2006 | American Literature | Fellowships for University Teachers | Research Programs | 40000 | 0 | 40000 | 0 |
"Mark Twain: The Mysterious Stranger" will consist of fifty brief (3,000-word) chapters which treat the life and work in tandem. Taking the title of his last book as its subtitle, this biography will argue that Twain's humor was ultimately serious and tragic. From Tom Sawyer in Huckleberry Finn to Satan in The Mysterious Stranger, Twain revealed the human condition to be a cosmic joke. This tragic underside to his humor helps to explain not only the enduring quality of his work but also the perceived pessimism of his final phase. This biography will synthesize the latest and most reliable information on America's most famous writer. |