Class Description
Ernest Hemingway claimed that “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.” While this assertion is arguable, the centrality of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to the literary development of the American vernacular voice, the paradoxical idea of “The Great American Novel,” and in countless controversies over book-banning, propriety, religion, gender and (especially) race is undeniable. Toni Morrison, another American Nobel Prize winner, wrote that “The brilliance of Huckleberry Finn is that it is the argument it raises.” In this class, we will read (and probably re-read) Twain’s 1884 masterpiece to delve into all of its complexities, in its own day, of the past it depicts, over the decades of its critical history, and in the context of American politics, literary and otherwise, in 2024.
Bill Savage has taught Adult Education classes at the Newberry Library since 1992. He is Professor of Instruction in the English Department at Northwestern University.
Cost and Registration
This class is full, but you can still register for the waitlist on Learning Stream.
6 sessions, $247 ($222 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.
To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.
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