{"product_id":"cavorting-on-the-devils-fork-leonard-williams-9781557288349","title":"Cavorting on the Devil's Fork: The Pete Whetstone Letters of C. F. M. Noland","description":"\u003cp\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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNoland'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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Leonard Williams\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1557288348\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781557288349\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Arkansas Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/01\/2006\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 292\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.02lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.98h x 6.02w x 0.91d","brand":"Leonard Williams","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48241356275967,"sku":"9781557288349","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d958e538-50cd-4f62-9a46-93b58ce736a7.jpg?v=1772654037","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/cavorting-on-the-devils-fork-leonard-williams-9781557288349","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}