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A review by chandrajohnson1208
Huck Out West by Robert Coover
4.0
After re-reading Huckleberry Finn as a primer, this book feels, at least in style and language, to be a seamless transition. I have no idea how Coover pulled it off. Having said that, this may be the first "Trumpist" novel of our time, with once-beloved characters taking on insidious mantles in a much-too-realistic pastiche of our present political atmosphere.
I found myself nodding even as I was nauseated by the idea that America's own Tom Sawyer could become a two-faced politician/tyrant masquerading as the people's voice. Coover's genius is that he makes this work so well and reminds us the vast trench between Tom (an opportunist to the last) and Huck (an idealist) that existed even as children. Even if we, as children reading those books, didn't see it that way. I recommend, but not if you're hoping to escape the hopeless garbage of our post-election world.
I found myself nodding even as I was nauseated by the idea that America's own Tom Sawyer could become a two-faced politician/tyrant masquerading as the people's voice. Coover's genius is that he makes this work so well and reminds us the vast trench between Tom (an opportunist to the last) and Huck (an idealist) that existed even as children. Even if we, as children reading those books, didn't see it that way. I recommend, but not if you're hoping to escape the hopeless garbage of our post-election world.