"All modern American literature begins with one book," claimed Ernest Hemingway, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."  That accolade by one of America's most respected twentieth-century novelists reflects, however, one pole in the continuing controversy that the work has elicited since its publication in late 1884.  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn still weathers contentious attacks, usually labeling the work as racist and bigoted.  Defenders, however, characterize the novel as a book about racism, addressing the social blight that so divided communities in Mark Twain's late 19th century.  The astute businessman, Mark Twain understood the meaning of public criticism.  When the Board of Directors of the Concord Public Library condemned the novel, Mark Twain wrote to his nephew and publisher, "Dear Charlie, Boston just banned my book.  That ought to be good for another 25,000 sales!" 

Textual Reading  Samuel L. Clemens ("Mark Twain")  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapters 28-Chapter the Last

American Humorist and Novelist Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain)