馬剋·吐溫（Mark Twain，1835～1910），原名薩纓爾·蘭亨·剋裏曼斯，美國著名作傢。齣生於密西西比河畔的漢尼技小鎮，12歲時綴學當小工，曾在小報館當排字工人，又當過水手，還在南北戰爭中參加過南軍，26歲時去西部內華達挖礦淘金，失敗後當報館記者。

馬剋·吐溫的作品，有不少取材自童年生活，特彆是他在密西西比河上的生活；Mark Twain這個筆名即取自水手的行話，意思是“12英尺深”，指水的深度足以使航船通行無阻。《湯姆·索亞曆險記》和《哈剋貝利·費恩曆險記》，都是以密西西比河及河邊小鎮為背景的。

馬剋·吐溫寫過不少針砭時政、諷刺封建製度和宗教以及抨擊黑奴製的小說，如與華爾納閤寫的《鍍金時代》，以英國為背景的《王子與貧兒》、《亞瑟王宮廷中的美國佬》，以及《傻瓜威爾遜》。在這些作品中，他用辛辣的筆調，盡情諷刺和揭露瞭當時盛行的投機、拜金狂熱、暗無天日的社會現實和慘無人道的種族歧視。

馬剋·吐溫的作品對後來的美國文學産生瞭深遠的影響，人們普遍認為，他是美國文學史上的裏程碑，並把他譽為“美國文學中的林肯”。馬剋·吐溫的作品，深受各國讀者的喜愛，他的主要作品現在大多已有中文譯本。

Grade 5 Up-British actor Mike McShane provides a superb portrayal of Mark Twain's classic characters, nailing the Mississippi drawl and cadence. For those who know and love the story or are following along with an unabridged edition, however, this production is marred somewhat by what the publisher has chosen to leave out. The more descriptive chapters are shortened or expurgated entirely, which is understandable in the interest of editing for time. Some of the more distasteful racial epithets are gone as well, although Injun Joe retains his moniker. Sid and Mary are also cut entirely, as well as references to smoking, slavery, most of Tom's ludicrously funny romantic notions about the violence inflicted by pirates and robbers, and even the naked figure in the schoolmaster's anatomy book. The result is a watered down Tom and, especially, Huck. The ending also lacks the satisfaction of the original version. The party scene where the fortune is revealed has been cut as has Twain's concluding paragraphs which "endeth this chronicle." It lacks even the closure of the customary, "You have been listening to-." The sturdy plastic case will survive many circulations. If your facility serves an elementary-age population for which the language of the original would not be appropriate, or there is a teacher looking for a sanitized version, McShane's excellent performance makes this edition worth recommending.

Diana Dickerson, White Pigeon Community Schools, MI

Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.