{"product_id":"cavorting-on-the-devils-fork-the-pete-whetstone-letters-of-c-f-m-noland-9781557288349","title":"Cavorting on the Devil's Fork: The Pete Whetstone","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy the 1840s, American literature tradition had become fascinated with the frontier. The rural folk humor of the \"\"Devil's Fork\"\" letters that a young Charles Fenton Mercer Noland (1810-1858) of central Arkansas began writing in 1837 was something the country wanted. His pieces were published regularly in New York's \"\"Spirit of the Times\"\", and he quickly achieved a reputation as one of the southwest's best humorists. His tall tales told in dialect reflected the peculiar characteristics of the people of a backwoods region. Noland's semiautobiographical \"\"Letters\"\" were built around the experiences of Pete Whetstone, who, along with his neighbors, devoted himself to hunting, fishing, and an outdoors lifestyle. Through his first-person narration readers were able to experience an ideal southwest frontier existence. Here was a land of natural beauty, with clear rivers, forested mountains, and abundant game, a place where a person could live a free and rustic lifestyle. Here too were horse races and bear fights, politics and balls. Unfortunately for Noland, an early death cut short a promising career. Had he lived longer and written more, he could have become one of America's great nineteenth-century humorists. Midcentury America was certainly looking for one.","brand":"University of Arkansas Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51041332756823,"sku":"9781557288349","price":23.7,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781557288349.jpg?v=1750949855","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/cavorting-on-the-devils-fork-the-pete-whetstone-letters-of-c-f-m-noland-9781557288349","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}