Writer · 1835 – 1910

Mark Twain

Little-Known Facts

  • His pen name comes from a riverboat call meaning two fathoms of safe water depth.
  • He was born and died in years of Halley's Comet, as he had predicted he would be.

Myths & Misconceptions

Why is Huckleberry Finn controversial?

Its frank depiction of slavery and use of period racial language spark ongoing debate, even as the novel is widely read as a powerful attack on racism.