Of course he worked in his life - he worked on boats on the Mississippi
He also worked at a printing press, and a lot of other jobs. Later, he became a writer, and if you don’t think that’s work, try tossing off a novel one afternoon in your spare time.
Many prominent writers have questioned the authorship of Shakespeare’s work. I don’t agree with them, but it’s not ipso facto an indication of stupidity or evil.
And, he was a damn fine author.
For those who have not read Huckleberry Finn, or who have not read it since their youth...I recommend giving it another run. I have recently and it's still astounding. He paints a portrait few could imagine.
Are you saying Finn was a socialist or
Twain?
Based on Twain’s writings he was a
conservative who believed in smaller
government.
I guess that's why everyone today still knows of Twain and his newly released autobiography is a best seller.
It's a fine point I make, but it's a point nonetheless: "William Shakespeare" wrote the plays of William Shakespeare.
But Twain had doubts about who precisely this "William Shakespeare" was.
As do many scholars.
“never worked a day in his life”
Read “Life on the Mississippi. He didn’t just work on boats, he was a riverboat pilot (hence the pen name Mark Twain). “Life...” tells in detail how you become a riverboat pilot, which takes years of practice to get good at. And requires brains and an incredible memory. And it’s really hard — four hours on, four hours off.
Twain could be unpleasant, especially after the deaths of two of his daughters, but he was no slacker.
Huck Finn is the first novel I read on the kindle I got for Christmas - n word and all. Although it was before I knew about the controversy, I never thought downloading a book I read many times as a child would turn out to be an act of political defiance.
I will never forget that firemen in this country used to put out the fires.
I was reading earlier about the new expurgated version of Huckleberry Finn, and I must say I was surprised. The “n-word” (not going to write it here, not because it bothers me particularly, but because I don’t want my post to get pulled) is an ugly word, and my parents, for example, never used it a day in their lives. Nor do I. I can see why it would bother many people deeply, especially people with slavery in their family backgrounds.
However... it is a part of our history. Slavery is a part of that history. Ignoring it will not erase that history. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We should all bear that in mind.
Huck Finn is better than just a good book. It is an important book.
You need to read Roughing It and The Innocents Abroad.