“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong
words,” said Mark Twain. “To get the right word in the right
place is a rare achievement.” Holidays and the coming new year
are fine times for the joy of reading, and Mark Twain — along
with Sinclair Lewis and John Steinbeck — is one of the most
American of authors. Twain, Lewis and Steinbeck were an American
literary trinity. Each of them defined and defied the culture,
customs and conventions of their country while at the same time
they wrote prose that showed their love of the America that they
described so well in novels that still ring with resonance and
relevance today. None of these greatest of American writers
shied away from controversy. Twain said, “Whenever you find that
you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.”
Twain was loved by readers in America and around the world for
his stories and novels like “The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn.” He was lionized in literary salons and lecture halls, but
when it came to American p