I'll have to look up that Jane Smiley article in Harper's. It seems a strange argument on two counts: First, while _Uncle Tom_ does treat slavery in a more directly serious manner than _Huck Finn_ (with the emphasis on direct), Stowe's characters (misunderstood these days no less than Twain's) pose their own difficulties for a modern reader. Replacing "Nigger Jim" with "Uncle Tom" and "Topsy" looks like treading water to me, racial-politics-wise. Second, while the end of _Huck Finn_ may be slower going than the start, the boring parts of _Uncle Tom_ are evenly distributed throughout, like the fat in a pound of ground beef. Scott, I agree with your defense of _HF_. My vote still goes to _The Scarlet Letter_. Ben F.