Choice Review

Critical discussion of travel in Twain's books has usually focused on the Holy Land chapters of The Innocents Abroad or the western parts of Roughing It. Most critics have operated on the "flawed canon" theory: Twain stuffed his books with filler, wrote them without shape or design, and trailed off into meaningless reportage and jumbled jokes in Following the Equator. Melton (Auburn Univ.) suggests a more positive and coherent approach that takes into account the travel writing of Twain's time and the expectations of his audience. Melton bases much of his analysis on theoretical criticism of tourism as such, making this something of an interdisciplinary study; he critiques the illusory nature of the tourist experience and the contradictions involved in being an "experimental" tourist. He argues that rather than shrinking from filler material, Twain's audience wanted it and expected the author to frame the experience much as travelers sometimes carried actual frames to isolate a beautiful scene. Using such details, Melton elaborates the contemporary logic of Twain's travel writing, offering a sensible, rationale approach to four seemingly disparate works. In Twain, the turn to exaggeration and burlesque gently parodies his audience's expectations. Worthwhile reading for humor scholars, Twainiacs, and those interested in travel and travel theory generally. Upper-division undergraduates and above. D. E. Sloane University of New Haven