Jezebel: Mark Twain

Mark Twain’s Illustrated Advice to Little Girls

Whitney Jefferson — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:02:00 EDT

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It is unknown whether it was Mark Twain's actual intention for little girls to read this humorous short story published in 1867, and with selections like "You should ever bear in mind that it is to your kind parents that you are indebted for your food," we think it's safe to say this work wasn't ever meant to be published as a children's book. That hasn't stopped author/illustrator Vladimir Radunsky from turning his piece into a fully illustrated work. In fact, the artist has taken on many other works from different authors and provided illustrations for them as well. More »

New Version Of Huckleberry Finn Eliminates "N" Word

Margaret Hartmann — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:32:00 EST

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Next month Professor Alan Gribben and NewSouth Books will release an edition of Huckleberry Finn that replaces the "n" word with "slave." Gribben says "textual purists will be horrified," but the slur is preventing schools from teaching a classic. More »

Tina Fey's Jokes Make D.C. Crowd Nervous—And She's Team Cake

Irin Carmon — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:05:30 EST

Right-wing women, said Tina Fey last night, are great for all women, "unless you don't want to pay for your own rape kit...[or] you're a lesbian who wants to get married to your partner of 20 years." More »

Respirate In Peace

Sadie Stein — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:20:00 EST

What do Miley Cyrus, Mark Twain, Joe DiMaggio and Natalie Portman have in common? Reports of their deaths were greatly exaggerated. And not one succumbed to the temptation to attend their own funerals! [NYM] More »

Barneys: Wooing With Witticisms & Wallet-Emptying Wares

Dodai Stewart — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST

The new Barneys New York catalog urges, "Have A Witty Holiday." Shopping the pages, you realize: You can't afford one. More »

How To Talk Like Laura Bush & Sarah Palin

Anna North — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:00:00 EDT

Watching the banality with which Laura Bush recently voiced her support for Sarah Palin inspired our rhetorical analysts to take a break from annotating and help readers translate ordinary English into the language of Laura — and other prominent Repubs. More »

Why Isn't Anne Shirley Worth of Huck Finn Status?

Megan Carpentier — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Many of your editors loved the Anne of Green Gables series when they were younger — and, really, who didn't? She was smart and a bit of a fuck-up but she always tried to do the right thing, made her own family, got an education and snagged the cutest boy in town. Eventually, if you made it all the way through Rilla of Ingleside, she even got to wear pink when her hair went grey. And yet how many of you (outside of Canada, it might be required reading there) actually read it in school? How did a book — eventually a series of books — beloved by even sometimes-Y.A. author Mark Twain not make it into the canon of Things You Must Read? And how many of the books in that canon are about girls? More »