Don Harrold: It's a profound and brutal piece. Twain actually instructed that it not be published until after his death.

Mark Twain hated the Fourth of July. He was often invited to speak at Independence Day festivities. His audiences assumed that his reliably unpatriotic remarks were tongue-in-cheek jests. But he meant that shit. 1/9

Twain's "The War Prayer" will forever and always be my favorite piece of literature.

Thank you. I had never read this piece until you mentioned it. I’ve now shared it with several people.

It's a profound and brutal piece. Twain actually instructed that it not be published until after his death.

Strongly second the rec of "War Prayer," but just a small correction. Twain only uttered the famous "only dead men can tell the truth in this world" line after he failed to find a publisher to run it. He was ready to take the blowback, but no magazine was, despite Twain's enormous popularity.

And I learned something new. BTW, did you ever read "1601"? Other end of the spectrum...

Just read your bio...of course you did.

I have. I even have an LP of it being read aloud (not by Twain). Possibly the peak of fart jokes.

It was legit laugh aloud funny. Hold onto your copy since it's liable to be banned again. Dammit.

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