Some really fine parts,,some real insight and acerbic humor.
The whole is not equal to the parts. Nevertheless worth reading
or rereading-it's quite short.

If I ever become half as good at the use of irony in literature as Mark Twain was, I could die happy. I was kind of ashamed of myself for having done a report on Mark Twain back in like 5th grade and now finding out about a book he wrote that I'd never even heard of. Twain really throws a wrench into society's views of the differences between black people and white people by essentially pointing out that there is no difference. The only reason society sees these differences is because they depend on them to keep life going along as they know it. While Puddn'head Wilson was originally published separate from Those Extraordinary Twins (actually it was only pretty recently that they started being published together) the two stories really can't be told one without the other (in my opinion).

The best episode of Columbo you've never read

I read this book for a class at Rutgers and it changed my mind about Mark Twain. I was not a fan of his until I read this book. His characters came to life and made me want to read more. It had a plot and characters that I wanted to get to get to know and learn more about. It was the witty Twain that I have been hearing about but never really saw in Tom or Huck. It is an easy read with a lot of substance. Pick it up and walk in to the world of Twain.

this was much more interesting than i was anticipating! twain has such an interesting way of exploring human nature

Cantankerous and bitter Twain may be my very favorite of all. Though no one would call this his greatest work, it ranks amongst his most scathing. His sights were set on the immorality of slavery and the false promise of religion. The best barbs, against man or God, are reserved for chapter headings doubling as entries for the would-be calendar of Pudd’nhead Wilson, the man whose first words to his new neighbors in a tiny hamlet of a town are (paraphrasing), “[Regarding a loudly barking dog] I wish I owned half of that dog. [Townie: ‘Why?’] So I could kill my half.”

Links below go to my reviews of the stories, but first I must address this particular version in the Barnes and Noble classics series. The following is addressed to whoever wrote the blurb on the back of the book, and whoever authorized it being placed there. It might be Darryl Pinckney who did the introduction and notes (which are good notes). Then again, it might not. It could be some admin at B&N who threw it on there; I don't know. But whoever it is, are you paying attention? Oh, you're not even here? Well, that's fine. Just to make myself feel better, I'll say what I have to say anyway, which is this:

n  FUCK YOU!n

I've learned the hard way not to read any introductions not penned by the author before reading the story because they always, always, always contain spoilers, so I skipped the introduction. I've learned the hard way to tread trepidatiously into end notes because one will occasionally drop a spoiler (Goddam B&N version of Ivanhoe), so I peeked at those and lucked out this time. But the paragraph synopsis on the back of this book, the thing one looks at when trying to decide whether or not to even read the book, not only reveals a major plot point which occurs a mere 25 pages before the end and would be a surprise if it weren't dropped here, but it also tells us how the matter turns out at the end! In short, if you want to watch the story unfold, there's no point in reading the book at all because the whole fucking thing has been spoiled! This is beyond the pale, and if I were rating this version of the book alone, the only reason it would be one star would be because I can't assign negative stars. Who does that? S'matter wit you?! Dickhead!

Be that as it may, my star rating for this volume reflects my thoughts on Twain's content and disregards the abominable conduct of whoever put this together.

...stupid-ass, story-spoilin' bitches...

Pudd'nhead Wilson: ★★★★✰
Those Extraordinary Twins: ★★★★✰

Like a low tech version of Face-Off, Twain writes a switched in the crib tale ala the Prince and the Pauper. I’d heard that this was one of Jean Michel Basquiat’s favorite books - which added some flavor to my reading. Satire of the provincial mindset, of class, race and perception- less of a journey than Huck- Twain here has arrived and uses his wit to unravel the hypocrisies of small town life on the Mississippi under slavery. Considering this was published during reconstruction, Twain’s focus on Tom is the core of the book, an indictment of the slave owning class- an x-ray of all the humanity drained from a body. How little feeling Tom has for his fellow people, how deeply broken. While the underlying conceit allows Twain enough room to pass his indictment and cover for the deeper digs of his satire I did wonder why he left out Chambers once the characters reach adulthood. The little we get of Chambers near the end gives some clues but his omission from the main action seems purposeful- maybe to sustain the spirals of Tom’s fall.

This book demonstrates what an amazing storyteller Mark Twain. What an imagination, a story where nothing is as it seems. Pudd"nhead Wilson is thought a fool though he is really a brilliant observer of human life. Children switched at birth must follow their destiny. The rich nephew is really 1/32 black while the slave son is "100%" white. The "white" child is evil while the "black" child is talented and good. Roxana the slave mother must live with the choice she made to save her son. All truth comes out when Pudd'nhead shows proof in court of fingerprint technology.

The extraordinary twins were co-joined with two distinct personalities. They shared one set of legs so they had to take turns going where the one twin wanted. The teatotaller got drunk while his other half enjoyed his liquor.

It is so much a book of its time but so relevant to our times. Lots to think about.

The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson juggles three incredible plot points, where each has its own individual charm. However, there is a connection with all three of them at the end of the story. A man named Pudd'nhead Wilson was a Northern moves to a small town in Missouri called Dawson's Landing. However, this place is a slave state, and the folks around him believe that he is crazy for what he thinks. So the man's real name, David Wilson, became Pudd'nhead Wilson, because they believed that he has no brain. The second plot is about a slave and her switch of children. Roxy is a slave who can go as white, but is 1/16 black. So that her son can never be sold away from her, he switched her son, Chambers, with her owner's kid, Tom, and they began their own lives. "Tom", who is really Chambers, who now is a part of a rich estate, is now a cruel person with hopes of revenge against Driscoll, the judge of the town. Then arrive two sideshow performers named Luigi and Angelo. They claim to be Italian Brothers. Luigi confessed to Wilson that he killed a man who was trying to steal an Indian Knife. "Tom"(aka Chambers) stole the knife and used it to try and kill his uncle, Driscoll. He nearly succeeded, but he was caught by Luigi. Luigi takes him to Driscoll and told him everything, but he believes that Luigi was should I say "self-reporting" and believe he was the one trying to kill him, because he confessed he killed someone. He challenges him to a duel, but it never occurs, because Luigi was not honorable enough. They both lose their reputations in the town there after. Then there was an election for the mayor, which Wilson won. Shortly after however, Tom, who is in need of money, sold his mother, Roxy, stole from Driscoll, and killed him with the knife he stole. All three events are connected to the murder trial at the end. A set of twins found the body of Driscoll, and were sent to trial. However, their attorney, Wilson, did fingerprints of everyone in town, and discovered that Tom was the real murderer, and who would be founded as Chambers. He saved the town, but never celebrated this big win. The best comparison of this story is To Kill A Mockingbird, because of the way the murder trial reveals everything. As well as they both have great character depth and great storytelling. With this story, Mark Twain proves once again why he is considered the best American literature author in the history of the USA. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to be challenged with their train of thought and who appreciates a good trial event connecting certain plots. On a scale from 1-10, I give this story a 9.6, because of how well it is described to be a thrilling story, but also a very sad story. This story is a must read for anyone who likes these types of books.

The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson is one of the more obscure works of Mark Twain, which is a shame. Twain wrote this novel toward the end of the 19th Century, but it was set in the Missouri of the 1830s to 1850s. This is the setting for many of Twain's most beloved novels, such as Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Like those two novels, Pudd'nhead Wilson is a humorous work full of social criticism, particularly attacking the evils of the antebellum South, slavery, race relations and the class system.

This novel is full of irony. Pudd'nhead Wilson is a young lawyer recently moved to the Missouri river town of Dawson's Landing in 1830. Although he is probably the most intelligent man in town, he is called "Pudd'nhead" because a remark that he made shortly after arriving in town was misunderstood by the town's elders. The name stuck for decades despite Wilson's proof of his own intelligence. But Wilson is a relatively minor character in this story. The main story revolves around a slave woman named Roxanne who is 15/16 white, but who is considered black and a slave because one of her great grandparents was a black slave. She had a son by a white town elder, and this son was the same age as the son of her patrician master's young son, so the intrigue follows. Twain deals with the absurdity of race relations, the slavery system and "selling down the river" of an unwanted slave, and the honor and dueling conventions of the day. By the end of the novel, it turns into a mystery as one of the town elders is killed, and Pudd'nhead Wilson as the attorney for the defendant uses some 19th Century forensic science to reveal the killer as well as some decades old town secrets. The end of the novel is quite riveting and entertaining.

If you liked "Tom Sawyer" or "Huck Finn" and are interested in the antebellum South, or if you like a good humorous novel, I highly recommend "The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson."

Loved it!

Mark Twain was brilliant in the way he criticized slavery and discrimination in both Puddn’head Wilson and those extraordinarily Twins.