Peter Messent--Ernest Hemingway made a large claim for the influence of ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN on himself and all modern American writing. In GREEN HILLS OF AFRICA, in a conversation with a man named Stavisky, Hemingway says: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called HUCKLEBERRY FINN. If you read it you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. But it's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since" (p. 22: 1935). An interesting observation made long before Leo Marx came into the picture, and in light of the long and ongoing discussion on how the novel ends. Frank Scafella