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Shared with Friends; Except: Linda Alexander Hester, Stephen Jennings

One of my literary friends stunned me yesterday when she told me that she had never read Huckleberry Finn. This is a person who reads without ceasing and has graduate training in literature.

As soon as I recovered from my shock and regained my composure, I recommended a three-step program.

1) Admit you have a problem. You haven't read this essential American classic, the book that Hemingway said was the founding document of American literature (next to that bartender's book on mixing drinks). Isn't the first step always to first admit that you have a problem?

2) Clear your reading docket to make room for this classic.

3) Read the darn book. And read the original, not Alan Gribben's expurgated version. You can handle it. The irony of the matter is that if Twain were here he would probably chuckle and say, "You can still be happy without reading it. But I would be pleased if you did."

You'll feel better about yourself afterwards. I promise.

6-1-16