s novel as
             not a suitable reading matter for knowledge-seekers in this institution.
             Concord claimed that it was the only "summer school of philosophy in the
             universe." One member was reported as commenting that the work had only
             minimal humor, another said it was downright immoral and "couched in the
             language of a rough, ignorant dialect" and, and a third member considered
             The Boston Daily Advertiser (March 23, 1885) could find no reason to
             disagree with the Concord committee members, as only a few journals
             These few, which had good things to say about Twain's masterpiece,
             included the San Francisco Chronicle (March 15, 1885). It decided that the
             novel was the most amusing work Twain had written, with a minute and
             faithful account and description of Mississippi's manners and customs half
             a century earlier. Its use of dialect, in partic
             ...