Mark Twain is known as one of America's greatest writers. He was born in 1835 in Missouri and before becoming a writer worked as a journalist, a miner, and a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi.

He is perhaps most famous for writing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The novel is set in the American South during the time when Americans still kept slaves. The story follows a young boy, Huck, and a runaway slave, Jim, on their adventures down the Mississippi River. One of Twain's greatest talents was his ability to write in dialects. Huckleberry Finn is written in a local dialect of the American South. The characters use lots of colorful language and slang terms, which makes them really come to life.

Twain also strongly disagreed with many ideas common in American society, particularly those about race. And he dealt with these issues in his novels. Though he died in 1910, his books are very popular to this day. You might even come across one of his stories in your English class. If you do, you're certainly in for a treat! Twain's ability to tell a story really is second to none!

馬克• 吐溫是美國史上最具文采的知名作家之一。1835年於密蘇里州出生的他，成為作家之前曾任職記者、礦工以及密西西比河的遊輪船長。

他以撰寫《哈克歷險記》而聞名，小說的時空背景設定於美國人仍保有奴隸制度的美國南方地區。故事描述一名少年哈克與逃脫的奴隸吉姆，順著密西西比河展開其冒險旅程。吐溫最令人讚賞的才華之一，就是運用方言的能力，《哈克歷險記》全以美國南方的當地方言撰寫，每個主角均使用生動的語言和口語措詞，因此顯得更加活靈活現。

吐溫亦強烈反對美國社會的許多普遍想法，尤其是種族方面的議題。他藉由小說來抒發自己的見解，雖然已逝於1910年，但馬克• 吐溫的著作至今仍十分受歡迎。你或許上英文課時，也讀過他的小說內容，如果是這樣，你一定覺得十分過癮，因為馬克• 吐溫說故事的功力可說是一絕！