UNIQUE AND SEXY WALLPAPER

Mark Twain wrote that "the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." A new edition of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and “Tom Sawyer” will try to find out if that holds true by replacing the N-word with "slave" in an effort not to offend readers.

Twain scholar Alan Gribben, who is working with NewSouth Books in Alabama to publish a combined volume of the books, said the N-word appears 219 times in ”Huck Finn” and four times in "Tom Sawyer." He said the word puts the books in danger of joining the list of literary classics that Twain once humorously defined as those "which people praise and don't read."

"It's such a shame that one word should be a barrier between a marvelous reading experience and a lot of readers," Gribben said.

Yet Twain was particular about his words. His letter in 1888 about the right word and the almost right one was "the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."

Another Twain scholar, professor Stephen Railton at the University of Virginia, said Gribben was well respected, but called the new version "a terrible idea."

The language depicts America's past, Railton said, and the revised book was not being true to the period in which Twain was writing. Railton has an unaltered version of "Huck Finn" coming out later this year that includes context for schools to explore racism and slavery in the book.

"If we can't do that in the classroom, we can't do that anywhere," he said.

He said Gribben was not the first to alter "Huck Finn." John Wallace, a teacher at the Mark Twain Intermediate School in northern Virginia, published a version of "Huck Finn" about 20 years ago that used "slave" rather than the N-word.

Some parents and students have called for the removal of "Huck Finn" from reading lists for more than a half century. In 1957, the New York City Board of Education removed the book from the approved textbook lists of elementary and junior high schools, but it could be taught in high school and bought for school libraries.

In 1998, parents in Tempe, Ariz., sued the local high school over the book's inclusion on a required reading list. The case went as far as a federal appeals court; the parents lost.

Published in the U.S. in 1885, "Huck Finn" is the fourth most banned book in schools, according to "Banned in the U.S.A." by Herbert N. Foerstal, a retired college librarian who has written several books on First Amendment issues.

Gribben conceded the edited text loses some of the caustic sting but said: "I want to provide an option for teachers and other people not comfortable with 219 instances of that word."

In addition to replacing the N-word, Gribben changes the villain in "Tom Sawyer" from "Injun Joe" to "Indian Joe" and "half-breed" becomes "half-blood."

Gribben knows he won't change the minds of his critics, but he's eager to see how the book will be received by schools rather than university scholars.

"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury.

This gets the number one spot because, ya know, it's an entire novel about the future government banning (and burning) books because they could inspire critical thought.

It's been banned because, in "Fahrenheit", one of the books that eventually gets burned is the Bible. On a more cynical level, people have speculated that the book has been banned because it advocates questioning authority and some think it'd be better for the masses NOT to read such subversive ideas. Which, again, is exactly the theme of the book.

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain.

"Huck Finn" isn't just one of the greatest works of art ever created in the history of mankind, but one of the finest and cleverest anti-slavery and anti-racism works ever created too.

But that word, for over a century (and still today), has been the most charged and controversial word in the English language... so the knee-jerk "see the word, ban the book" reaction persists.

"Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger.

I guess the people who banned it just didn't have time to go through and scratch out all the "Fuck yous."

"The Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie.

Rushdie wrote a novel that satirized some of the more narrow-minded and (to Westerners, at least) antiquated aspects of zealotous Islam. He included a murderous, fringe, irrational, power-abusing character modeled after Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini.

How did the Ayatollah react when the book came out? He decreed a fatwa, calling on "all good Muslims" to kill Rushdie.

"1984" by George Orwell.

Anyway, if there's anything that makes the modern Big Brother look bad, it's the show "Big Brother".

"Where's Waldo" by Martin Handford.

Believe it or not, in the '90s, the first "Where's Waldo" book was one of the most banned books in the country. It all centers around a beach scene that (kinda) shows a bare breast.

"Steal This Book" by Abbie Hoffman.

When this book came out, a lot of bookstores decided they weren't going to carry it... not because it teaches people how to make pipe bombs, grow marijuana and such... but because they thought the title would, appropriately, make people shoplift it.

"The Diary of Anne Frank" by Anne Frank.

The book that, above all else, illustrates a Holocaust victim's undying faith in the goodness of humanity, was banned by the Alabama State Textbook Committee in 1983 for being "a real downer."

"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley.

Like many books on this list, we've got a story about the tragedy and danger of an oppressive government that makes decisions for you, the absence of independent thought, etc., etc., etc.

The "Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling.

I know this because J.K. Rowling got lazier and lazier through the series. And the "Harry Potter" books fit this list -- religious watchdog groups have fought aggressively to ban a book about tolerance, respect and love because the main character happens to have magical powers.

I also find it fitting that people have worked tirelessly to ban the one book that made an entire generation of kids want to read books.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.

Like "Huck Finn", another of the greatest anti-racism books of all time is often banned for its n-bombs. (And again, as in "Huck Finn", it's used to paint an accurate picture of the period.)

It's been banned across the country for using "racial slurs"... for "promoting white supremacy"... and almost (in New Jersey) because a parent thought the way "blacks are treated by members of [the] white community in Alabama would upset black children."

Of course, all those arguments are ridiculous -- never, ever has a book made it so clear who the good guys are and who the bad guys are.

Well it’s shocking that 1984, Harry Potter, To kill a mocking bird, Huck Finn, & The diary of Anne Frank are in this list. The Satanic Verses is one book, which is unreadable. In spite of what we have heard from our parents, it’s damn to difficult to even read 10 pages of that bizarre book. It’s better to waste your time than to read the Satanic Verses.