That is a very powerful piece of writing.

I noticed that a commenter (the comments after Chabon's piece are uncommonly
good as well) had offered a link to another powerful opinion, this time from
a high school teacher:

http://allthingsedu.blogspot.com/2011/01/high-school-teacher-on-huck-finns.h
tml 

Well worth reading and rereading.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jerry Bandy
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 1:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Thank you

In the 14 years since I completed an undergrad course on Twain, I've been a
steadfast lurker on this list. Only now am I finally compelled to post, even
if it is only to post a link to yet another response to the Huck Finn
brouhaha.

Michael Chabon's response in the Atlantic,

http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2011/01/the-unspeakable-in-its-ja
mmies/69369/

affected me more directly than most other opinions I've read on the subject
so far.  Like Chabon, I am also a father of two young children with a hearty
appetite for books.  As in Chabon's anecdote, I know that some day in the
ever-nearing future I'll be faced with a similar conflict of how to navigate
the n-word and of how to steer my children into the correct contextual
current.  I know when that moment arrives I will appreciate, even more than
I do now, the voices on this list.

So in advance, I want to thank you all for your tireless, entertaining, and
informative devotion to Twain scholarship.

JB