Introduction:
Portrait of Mark Twain by James Carroll Beckwith
Well, last week’s Tuesday Tome article set out to make a light recommendation of Breakfast on Pluto, then got side-tracked with a conversation about identity that led into a purely analytical Thursday Theater post on The Crying Game. I guess that when I found myself reading part of a dissertation on Irish art while writing the article, that should have been a good clue that the article was not going to end up light. With that failure to keep things light so fresh in my mind, I’m really (truly) going to make this one short, sweet, and enticing.
The book I want to convince you to read is a lesser-known work by an immensely famous author: Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain. This book has a little bit of everything, from ironic comedy to tragic twists to courtroom drama, and all of it is tied together by a core of biting satire as strong as Twain is known for. Not convinced? Let me tell you a bit more.
Nature, Nurture, Nightmare:
![[Work: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, (Pearl Poet), c. late 1300s] The Green Knight's Wife: Space and Gender Relations in the Chivalric Romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight](https://i2.wp.com/thegemsbok.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Sir-Gawain-and-the-Green-Knight-Illustration-of-Lady-Betrilak-2.jpg?fit=319%2C350&ssl=1&resize=200%2C200)
![[Work: A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, 1962] Burgess' Myopic Morality: Why Anthony Burgess' Infamous A Clockwork Orange is Stronger Without its Original Last Chapter](https://i2.wp.com/thegemsbok.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/A-Clockwork-Orange-book-cover.jpg?fit=257%2C377&ssl=1&resize=200%2C200)
![[Game: Terraria, Re-Logic, 2011] Yes Half Measures: 5 Reasons You Should Play Terraria on Mediumcore Difficulty](https://i0.wp.com/thegemsbok.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Terraria-screenshot-with-home-base.jpg?fit=1045%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=200%2C200)
![[Work: The Stranger, Albert Camus, 1942] Smiling While Despised: The Ending of Albert Camus' The Stranger and the Beginning of Authenticity](https://i1.wp.com/thegemsbok.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/The-Stranger-book-cover.png?fit=262%2C400&ssl=1&resize=200%2C200)
