I never realized how awesome a writer Twain was until I finished this novel.

Is this book "ultimately a fierce condemnation of a racially prejudiced society that was predicated upon the institution of slavery?" Not necessarily. it was a fun story, though.

I really enjoyed the courtroom drama, an obvious precursor to the infamous To Kill a Mockingbird as well as Inherit the Wind. The characterization and dramatic irony keep the story going.

I'm glad Twain let go of the conjoined twins idea. Although a good basis for Pudd'nhead Wilson, refocusing the story made this short novel bearable.

"Pudd'nhead Wilson, I think you're the biggest fool I ever saw."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."

Witty (and snarky) as ever. The one thing I will always love about Mark Twain is that he can make me laugh. He writes so many jokes and snide remarks, and some of them are so subtle, that you feel a few must be by accident, but, no. Twain is much too particular for that. He is a a true wordsmith and it's obvious how carefully he chooses every word for the exact effect he intends.

One thing I found particularly amusing was that he named one of his characters Rowena. I may be reading too much into this, but the name Rowena was popularized by Sir Walter Scott (she was a main character in his book Ivanhoe) and Twain openly despised Scott (in Life on the Mississippi Twain wrote, "He did measureless harm; more real and lasting harm, perhaps, than any other individual that ever wrote."). In these stories, Rowena is a "light-weight heroine" and not a particularly admirable character. It's my guess that Twain just loved to disparage Scott's themes/characters every chance he could in an attempt to undo the influence of Scott who Twain believed set "the world in love with dreams and phantoms; with decayed and swinish forms of religion; with decayed and degraded systems of government; with the sillinesses and emptinesses, sham grandeurs, sham gauds, and sham chivalries of a brainless and worthless long-vanished society." Again, maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there, but it seems wholly in keeping with Twain's character and style to name the vapid and ridiculous female after one of Scott's most famous heroines and it made me chuckle.

Pudd'nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins are two works that are linked in a very interesting way. I pretty much assume that any "notes from the author" are facetious, but the way he writes it is that he started with the story for Those Extraordinary Twins and the characters/plot that make up Pudd'nhead Wilson sort of took over and crowded them out. So Twain concludes Pudd'nhead Wilson and takes up with Those Extraordinary Twins in a much shorter story at the end (one that shares many of the same characters and events but with much different elements/conclusions). Both works were interesting and refreshingly unique. Both really should be read together to get the full effect.

Twain dealt a lot with the themes of slavery and prejudice and Pudd'nhead Wilson (not so much Those Extraordinary Twins) has probably more to do with those than anything else I've read of his so far (including Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn). With it's use of the N-word and blatant stereotypes, I'm sure many modern readers would find it offensive. But when you account for the historical context, I think Twain more often than not was purposefully attempting to mock racial prejudice and expose the ridiculousness of it. Still, this was written in the 1890s and it's a product of its age (even if Twain seems, to me at least, to be above many of his peers in these areas). I think it makes a very interesting story out of issues of human nature and that still has value today (and not necessarily just for entertainment...though it was very entertaining).

This is not Mark Twain at his "best," if that means perfect, completely organized, and entirely satirical. This is Twain at his most ambitious, and marks the beginning of the "darker" period of his life in which his writing is markedly more cynical. Puddn'head Wilson is more challenging than The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because it is so much more complex, and areas are left in shades of gray. It is thought-provoking and, of course, laugh-out-loud funny at some points. It's important to note that while some of the plot is muddy-- and some characters and plot points could be taken further (what the heck happened to Rowena? Why don't we talk more about "Chambers"?)-- it is never so out-of-order that it is unpleasant. I just wish Twain had done a bit more with the story, as I know he was so capable.

I did not like this edition. I read the back of the book and forward and knew what was going to happen. This really took away the Twain magic (for me). It’s a great story. I think that it does a great job of pointing out the foolishness of prejudice. It doesn’t matter who you were the offspring of, you are not justified in your misdeeds.
Excellent book, awful edition; Barnes & Noble Classics are cheap and informative to a fault.

For Pudd'nhead Wilson:

This is an easy and entertaining read and almost not at all about the title characters. Instead this is more a social commentary and indictment of society and it's fickleness, it's rules and it's judgements of others.

It is easy to mistake this novel as racist, particularly with the use of the word N*****. But please, read it as farce and not as Twain trying to relate truths according to someone's race.

Roxie is 1/16 black. Valet is 1/32 black and the real Tom is of course "pure" white. Yet they all act to their expected stereotypes based on how they were raised and expected to act per society and not because they are white or black. Twain isn't claiming villainy and idiocy because Roxie and Valet have distant black relatives. You're supposed to think this is absurd thinking, as he does.

There is a reason this is called Twain's pessimistic period and this story deserves your critical thought while reading. And yes, it deserves a read.

I'm glad my introduction to Mr Mark Twain was by reading his extraordinary book Pudd'nhead Wilson, which always brings a smile to my face every time I say it. However, I was unable to find the commonly uttered quote about the watermelon that you find in many places which was a little bit of a let-down for me.

Mark Twain is amazing and anything by this author is a great read grand adventure, humor and extraordinary writing make this and all the author's books great for readers of all ages,

Why have I never heard of this book before?
It was much better than any of the other Mark Twain stories I have read. It also made me think of things I had never even considered before:
Like Chambers, who is 1/32nd negro, but still a slave, because his mother was a slave. Or his mother Roxy, who is 1/16th negro, looks white, but is a slave because HER mother was a slave.

Or that at one time, fingerprinting was considered a silly thing to think about or care about.
Or all of the other prejudices that don't cross my mind now, because they aren't a part of my life.

The story was fun and interesting, and even though I was pretty sure I knew exactly what would happen, I enjoyed getting there.

A book group selection, otherwise I can't imagine I would have chosen to read this. But I'm so glad I did. It was fun! Mark Twain's writing is famous for many reasons, but in this book I especially noticed how timeless his humor is. He conveys the irony of human foibles like no one else.

In this edition, you get Pudd'nhead Wilson in the first half of the book, and it's great. Then, the second half reproduces Those Extraordinary Twins, which he starts off by telling you that it's an earlier idea that morphed into Pudd'nhead Wilson, and how. He delivers sections of his original novel, pointing out where he kept or diverted to tell the PW story. It's quite interesting and even delivers more laughs. Like outtakes at the end of a film.

Fun score: 8 out of 10

Recommended!

I must have missed something. I did not enjoy this book at all. The strongly racist attitudes towards black people were very discomfiting to read. And the mockery of people with disabilities was painful, too.

I love Twain, but I wish I had given this book a pass.

As a standalone text Puddin'head Wilson is fantastic, containing elements of social stigma, identity, "passing," and hypocrisies. The addition of Those Extraordinary Twins then adds the concepts of authorship, intertextuality, and twinhood to the discussion, albeit twinhood does appear in the first book as well. In essence the books are twins to each other, slightly different versions of the same narrative that share the same foundation, but ultimately split into different directions. On its own, Those Extraordinary Twins is inconsequential, but Puddin'head Wilson triumphs on its own two legs.