The Big Read folks in Kansas City are doing Tom Sawyer, too. Also, someone has commissioned an original ballet based on the novel for the KC Ballet Company. So it's a big deal here in Twain's home state. I'll be giving a talk on Twain and the Philippines at the Central Library in KC on October 4. --susan harris Susan K. Harris Hall Professor of American Literature University of Kansas Author of God's Arbiters: Americans and the Philippines, 1898-1902 (The War that Sparked Mark Twain's Conflict with America ________________________________________ From: Mark Twain Forum [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Warren Brown [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 6:48 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Hirst and Mark Twain coming to Sacramento The article is a bit confusing. The Big Read is a program operated by the N= ational Endowment for the Humanities started in 2006, to answer a serious i= ssue. Don't recall any mention to the NEH in the article, but perhaps, is d= eserving of credit for the event. A worthy program. All programs which prom= ote reading are worthy. Always glad to see a Mark Twain book is selected.= =20 "The Big Read answers a big need. Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Rea= ding in America, a 2004 report by the National Endowment for the Arts, foun= d that not only is literary reading in America declining rapidly among all = groups, but that the rate of decline has accelerated, especially among the = young. The concerned citizen in search of good news about American literary= culture would study the pages of this report in vain."=20 Since The Big Read operated by the NEH was intended to address the specific= issue mentioned in the Reading at Risk survey, especially with young reade= rs, the NEH selected four books per year, which they felt, addressed the is= sue. I believe Tom Sawyer was selected in the second year of the program. H= uckleberry Finn, is unquestionably, not a good selection for our youth, exc= ept for Sam a.k.a. "Youth," affectionately nicknamed by Livy.=20 Sam would probably say, 'The reading of a single book by communities has be= en occurring since the printing of the Gutenberg Bible, and I'm thinking ab= out a rewrite ... and removing the word 'God.' (thanks for the U.K. "Victor= ia" cartoon strip circulated several months ago). read about The Big Read at the NEH website Warren Brown -----Original Message----- From: Arianne <[log in to unmask]> To: TWAIN-L <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tue, Aug 30, 2011 3:17 pm Subject: Hirst and Mark Twain coming to Sacramento http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/29/3868153/tom-sawyer-is-next-big-read.html I'm surprised Huckleberry Finn wasn't chosen. Arianne Laidlaw