Pudd'nhead Wilson cover art

Pudd'nhead Wilson

A Tale by Mark Twain

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Pudd'nhead Wilson

By: Mark Twain
Narrated by: Richard Henzel
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About this listen

 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 Classics Witty Comedy

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)
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I read a bit of Tom Sawyer in my youth but had not otherwise read any Mark Twain novels until I reread Tom Sawyer recently and then downloaded Pudd’nhead Wilson

I find his writing quite visual and his characters and dialogue are well written. People always speak of his wit and wry humour. I have to admit I didn’t really find much humour in this tale that heavily relies on tales of slavery and the themes and attitudes are inevitably outdated (thank god). I did enjoy it and will read more by Mark Twain. Maybe Huckleberry Finn next. I used to enjoy watching the series about him on TV when I was a child almost 50 years ago

Enjoyable and well written

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Fabulous story, plot, description. Mark Twsin is a genius. the narrator was also excellent. Recommended 5*

Twain is a genius

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Clearly a yarn of its time. The narration was outstanding, [by a non US listener]

Remarkable yarn for the wrong reasons.

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