The classic boyhood adventure tale, updated with a new introduction by noted Mark Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen A consummate prankster with a quick wit, Tom Sawyer dreams of a bigger fate than simply being a "rich boy." Yet through the novel's humorous escapades--from the famous episode of the whitewashed fence to the trial of Injun Joe--Mark Twain explores the deeper themes of the adult world, one of dishonesty and superstition, murder and revenge, starvation and slavery.