The Solid Nonpareil

By Lewis Lapham, TomDispatch Dec 20, 2013 Laughter was Mark Twain’s stock in trade, and for 30 years as bestselling author and star attraction on America’s late-nineteenth-century lecture stage, he produced it in sufficient quantity to make bearable the acquaintance with grief that he knew to be generously distributed among all present in the Boston Lyceum or a Tennessee saloon. Dig deeper ( 13 Min. Read )

Huck Finn

Signe Wilkinson / Truthdig Apr 2, 2013 Dig deeper

Happy Birthday, Howard Zinn

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 24, 2012 The beloved historian, social activist and author of “A People’s History of the United States,” would have turned 90 years old on Friday. "Democracy Now!" remembers Zinn with clips from speeches he gave near the end of his life. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Daily Show’: Jim Gets a Promotion in the New ‘Huck Finn’

Staff / Truthdig Jan 13, 2011 Once we start taking offensive yet instructive language such as nigger out of literature, as is the case with Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," what's next? Senior Black Correspondent Larry Wilmore peers unflinchingly into . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

10 Reasons Why the Slurs Should Stay in ‘Huck Finn’

Marcia Alesan Dawkins / Truthdig Jan 7, 2011 If you find this book offensive, don’t buy it or read it. There are plenty of books that none of us have an interest in reading for one reason or another. We don’t rewrite them. We simply choose not to read them.Erasing racial epithets doesn’t erase race or racism. Actually, not talking about the “hurtful epithets” perpetuates racism because we’re never allowed to make corrections. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

‘Huckleberry Finn,’ Minus the N-Word

Staff / Truthdig Jan 5, 2011 "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is about to get a major makeover in the form of a significant edit to be made in NewSouth Books’ edition of Mark Twain's iconic novel. Specifically, the notorious n-word will be swapped out for "slave," along with one other race-related alteration. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Mark Twain’s ‘Hundred-Year Book’

BLANK Dec 24, 2010 You wouldn't really expect Mark Twain to go about the business of composing his autobiography in a conventional manner, now would you? The iconic American author's personal history, released in full this fall after a century, is quite an extraordinary tale—as is the story behind its creation.You wouldn't really expect Mark Twain to go about the business of composing his autobiography in a conventional manner, now would you? Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )