Just Read It!

There used to be a good excuse for not reading the bible — until Johannes Gutenberg came along.

In The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, travel writer Bill Bryson tells of visiting Hannibal, Missouri, Mark Twain’s hometown.¹ The house where the great writer grew up is still there. It’s a modest white clapboard house, tucked into the middle of Hannibal’s downtown. Next to it is the famous whitewashed picket fence from the novel, Tom Sawyer.

While he was visiting this historic home, Bryson fell into conversation with a fellow tourist. “What do you think of the place?” he asked.

“Oh, I think it’s great,” replied the man. “I always come here when I’m in Hannibal — two or three times a year. Sometimes I go out of my way to come here.”

“Really?” asked Bryson.

“Oh yes,” the man said. “I must have been here 20 or 30 times by now. This is a real shrine, you know.”

Bryson replied, “You must be a real fan and follower of Mark Twain. Would you say the house is...