Course Description

Instructor: Ross Friedman

Percival Everett’s recent best seller “James” is a retelling of the events—with several surprises--of Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”—a book Hemingway refers to as the genesis of American literature--through the runaway slave Jim’s point of view. It is a humorous yet darker and more serious journey, revelatory in its harrowing depiction of slavery and racism and in the humor and character of Jim (James). In this class we will read the two novels concurrently and see how the authors and their times create two wonderful and different works of art while traveling the same river. The hero’s journey, river journeys in literature, the beauty of nature and the Mississippi, the opinions and satire of the authors, and mankind’s enduring foibles will be discussed: I expect it to be a hell of a course. Required books: Paperback or Digital James: A Novel (Percival Everett) Amazon.com: James: A Novel: 9780385550369: Everett, Percival: Books The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) Amazon.com : huckleberry finn by mark twain

Bio: I have been a teacher for over 50 years and have taught over a dozen classes at OLLI over the years. I know what I'm doing, and my students and I have a good time.