Pudd'nhead Wilson

A Tale by Mark Twain

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Richard Henzel

Pudd'nhead Wilson, like many other Mark Twain books, was read aloud by the author to his wife and daughters, chapter by chapter, as it was being written.

This humorous, dramatic, and sometimes shocking novel, set in the pre-war south, is the tale of Roxy, a beautiful and intelligent slave woman who contrives to save her own light-skinned child from being "sold down the river". She successfully switches her baby with the master's own child, starting a chain of events that lead to surprising and tragic results.

This book is considered by many to be Mark Twain's best book dealing with the cruelty, horror, and inhumanity of slavery in 19th century America. Pudd'nhead, the title character, not only provides humorous aphorisms and wry observations on the little river town, he also proves to be the catalyst that solves the mystery, radically changing the lives of all of those involved.

Interestingly, Mark Twain's use of fingerprints as evidence in a fictional criminal trial predated the official acceptance of such evidence in actual U.S. courts by two years.

This recording is a recreation of Mark Twain's own reading, just as his family might have heard the story for the first time in the family library.

(P)2003 Richard Henzel

Critic reviews

"Superb...one of the best readings of a Mark Twain book to which I've ever listened, and I've listened to almost all of them. An energetic and remarkably impassioned narration that brings out the powerful emotions and ironies of one of Mark Twain's complex works and adds new dimensions." (R. Kent Rasmussen, author of Mark Twain A to Z and audiobook reviewer for Library Journal)

Mix of Humor and Tragedy

Twain is so good at mixing humor with human tragedy that shows the reality of small-town life in the 19th-Century American South. The absurdity of racial discrimination and Twain's dislike for it makes this a great read that can teach us all. The narrator did a fantastic job.

You wouldn't pick it but its not bad

If you are into literature books that they assign for class then it's your thing.

Bully Read!

Twain’s best, I opine, and I’ll stand on Huck Finn’s raft and say the same with Tom Sawyer waiting in the willows to debate me about it.

Read it before they ban it!

Amazing story, fun, humorous, tragic and kind of weird. The performance is perfect. i will listen to it again soon.

Twists and turns along the way!!

As a fingerprint examiner myself, this was quite an interesting story!! However, even one who has no fingerprint knowledge would find this twisted, winding tale very appealing!!! What a classic!!