20-Word Fiction (8 of 10): The Extroverted Novelist

Greetings to our blog readers in Latvia, Greece and New Zealand.........

Here is tonight's 20-Word Fiction Entry:

"If you were Mark Twain, you'd stay home and write a novel tonight. Wouldn't you? Maybe? Perhaps? Just stating the obvious."

You can visit the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut (not where we are) either in person or on the web at this link (we gather Ira Glass the host of "This American Life" was there recently):

 https://www.marktwainhouse.org/ 

His boyhood home of the "Tom Sawyer" author in Hannibal, Missouri http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/ is also a museum.

Quotes from Famous Authors (3 of 5): Mark Twain

"The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug."

If one is in the Hartford, Connecticut, area, we highly recommend visiting the Mark Twain House where Ghost Walk tours are being offered on Friday nights this month in honor of Halloween.

http://www.marktwainhouse.org

Special Quote of the Week- Mark Twain

Wow, even Newt Gingrich is quoting Mark Twain (1835-1910) these days, well at least according to Google, but we don't think he'll be using the quip we will posting down below.

The author best known for novels like "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer" will be featured on a commemorative American postage stamp in June; the first one will be post-marked in (where else?!) Hannibal, Missouri. There is also a Mark Twain House in Hartford, Conn., which I was fortunate enough to visit as we headed north to Maine a few years ago. One of the museum's many highlights is a sketch that animator Chuck Jones ("Bugs Bunny") made regarding Twain.

Late last year, "The Autobiography of Mark Twain" also came out, and it has been selling well. I have not read the book, but I did read his novel "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" fairly recently. And, luckily I did not have to write a book report on it!

When we get a proper chance, we will be sure to make fun of Gingrich and Donald Trump, but today well we are slightly overwhelmed! But, I would love to see a Republican candidate shaking hands in places like Sioux City, Iowa, or Rock Hill, SC, and making lofty promises that they themselves know could never ever happen. I guess that's what C-Span is for.

Here is the quote from Twain:

"A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar."

Top Ten Most Controversial Books of All Times

I must profess that the Top 10 Most Controversial Books of all time list that I found on 712educators.com actually cited "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" as the most controversial book on American library shelves, but I thought this image of Huckleberry Hound, the '60s cartoon that one can watch on Boomerang, would be more hip.

The idea, of course, stems from the proposed Koran book-burning crusade that the radical Rev. Terry Jones considered carrying out until virtually the last minute. He supposedly got a sign from God, or his doctor gave him a perscription to Prozac.

Alas, arch conservative Virginia governor Bob McDonnell (R), who is perhaps just 'slightly to the left' of Rev. Jones, will probably go through with the execution of a mentally ill woman from Pittsylvania County (near Danville) on Sept. 23. Perhaps, he will get a sign from God too.


"Huck Finn: was, of course, written by the great American writer Mark Twain. On Sept. 24, The Mark Twain House, which is in Hartford, Conn., (this surprises from Europeans since much of Twain's novels take place around his native Missouri), will be hosting a lecture from ghost-investigating legend Lorraine Warren. Yes, I know the "Ghostbusters" theme is probably going through your mind right now too!

It should be mentioned that the frequent use of the 'n' word is the prime reason for concerns about Twain's novel even though it illustrated the evils of slavery.

Here is the complete Top Ten List of controversial books:

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

2. The Cathcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

3. To Kill a Mockinghbird by Harper Lee

4. Bridge to Terabithia by Katerine Paterson (this was a surprise!)

5. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

7. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

8. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

9. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

10. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison