Editing Mark Twain (section)

===Overview===
Twain began his career writing light, humorous verse, but he became a chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies, and murderous acts of mankind. At mid-career, Twain combined rich humor, sturdy narrative, and social criticism in ''Huckleberry Finn''. He was a master of rendering [[colloquialism|colloquial speech]] and helped to create and popularize a distinctive American literature built on American themes and language.

Many of Twain's works have been suppressed at times for various reasons. The ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' has been repeatedly restricted in American high schools, not least for its frequent use of the word "[[nigger]]",<ref>{{Cite web| last = Friedman| first = Matt| title = New Jersey lawmakers want schools to stop teaching 'Huckleberry Finn'| work = Politico PRO| date = March 21, 2019| access-date = October 7, 2019| url = https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2019/03/21/new-jersey-lawmakers-want-schools-to-stop-teaching-huckleberry-finn-924748| archive-date = July 28, 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190728040601/https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2019/03/21/new-jersey-lawmakers-want-schools-to-stop-teaching-huckleberry-finn-924748| url-status = live}}</ref> a slur commonly used for [[Black people]] in the nineteenth century.

A complete bibliography of Twain's works is nearly impossible to compile because of the vast number of pieces he wrote (often in obscure newspapers) and his use of several different pen names. Additionally, a large portion of Twain's speeches and lectures have been lost or were not recorded; thus, the compilation of his works is an ongoing process. Researchers have rediscovered published material as recently as 1995 and 2015.<ref name="c-a-kirk" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/04/mark-twain-cache-uncovered-berkeley|title=Mark Twain stories, 150 years old, uncovered by Berkeley scholars|author=Nicky Woolf|newspaper=the Guardian|date=May 4, 2015|access-date=December 12, 2016|archive-date=December 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207053914/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/04/mark-twain-cache-uncovered-berkeley|url-status=live}}</ref>