Looking for some great new reading in 2010? Portrait has you covered! Each week we'll spotlight a new author, either contemporary or classical. So keep your eyes on Portrait!

Writer: Mark Twain (Real name: Samuel Clemens)

Genre: Fiction, Satire, Non-fiction

Online: You can check out The Mark Twain House and Museum if you're looking for information on the master of satire. Twain actually lived in Connecticut for a while, and his former home is open to scholars and book lovers.

Work: In addition to his most famous novels Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain penned essays and short stories. He was also a journalist.

Why You Should Read: Do you find the goings-on of small towns entertaining? Check. Do you like a good adventure? Check. Do you like a sarcastic sense of humor? Check. Do you like it when the characters in a novel actually learn their lesson? Check. The real question here is, why shouldn't you read?

For the most part, Mark Twain wrote about the life he knew. He began his writing career as a journalist out west, but then moved on to humorous short stories before taking on novel-length writing. He grew up in the Southeastern United States during a time when white men had the last say and small town mentality reigned supreme — and he wasn't altogether happy with the effect that produced. He brought his experiences to life in Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. On one hand he praises the camaraderie and companionship small-town life breeds, and on the other he condemns it for sheltering people from the real world. And he does it all in a way that is satirical and entertaining.

You can see his view on his stories plainly in the “Notice” at the front of every Huckleberry Finn novel:
“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.”
Though the message was originally intended to imply that Huck was nothing more than Tom's sequel, another novel aimed at boys that took them on a thrill ride, the warning had another effect: to get the reader to look for a motive and a moral, and to pay attention to the plot. And the book solidified Twain as a “real” novelist. All of his stories have morals, and he couldn't get away from that, even by telling people to avert their eyes.

Even though Mark Twain taught lessons with his novels, he didn't take the high-minded intellectual approach. He wrote the way people talk, accents and all. Though he worked incredibly diligently to make sure each accent he crafted on the page was correct, and he pulled details of towns from his childhood, he managed to tell his stories simply and eloquently, without making it seem as though he had labored over them, or as though they were children's books. His novels have an appeal to all ages and to people of all walks of life, something that can be hard for any writer to accomplish. (One tip: if you have difficulty understanding his accented dialogue, read it aloud. Once you hear how the phrasing is meant to sound, it gets easier to see it that way as well.)

My Pick: Hands down, my pick has got to be Tom Sawyer. Yes, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will probably be on your high school reading list if you live in the United States, but Tom came first. Tom's story is just as funny and sweet as Huck's, and it's a whole lot more carefree. It's a fun adventure, one you can find new things in every time you read it.