Classic Book Discussion Group

Read and discuss "Pudd'nhead Wilson" by Mark Twain.  Copies available at the circulation desk.

David Wilson is called "Pudd'nhead" by the townspeople, who fail to understand his combination of wisdom and eccentricity. He redeems himself by simultaneously solving a murder mystery and a case of transposed identities. Two children, a white boy and a mulatto, are born on the same day. Roxy, mother of the mulatto, is given charge of the children; in fear that her son will be sold, she exchanges the babies. The mulatto, though he grows up as a white boy, turns out to be a scoundrel. He sells his mother and murders and robs his uncle. He accuses Luigi, one of a pair of twins, of the murder. Pudd'nhead, a lawyer, undertakes Luigi's defense. On the basis of fingerprint evidence, he exposes the real murderer, and the white boy takes his rightful place.