Inspired to pick this up as a primer before reading Percival Everett's James.

Twain's writing breathlessly draws you along the intertwined story arcs for Tom and Huck with a flair for pace and effortlessly delivered cheek. The setting follows life along the Mississipi in the mid 19th century and is inescapably awash with reference and attitudes to slavery. These would not be the same stories without this ever present factor, and the reader may struggle to balance the pure joy of the heroes' exploits with how they themselves interpret the world as protagonists very much of their time.