“Be careful when reading health books. You can die from a misprint” (Lederer 472). This direct quote from Twain himself highlights an important aspect of his character: his ability to incorporate humor into his own life. He was a prominent leader of the regional realism movement, born of new technologies, postwar racial tensions, and a new commitment to realistic representation. Regional realism remained popular throughout the years 1865-1900. Examples of this movement can be seen in many of Twain's works, such as "The Famous Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This regional realism is illustrated by the precise representation of the dialect, particularly widespread in these two works (American Passages). Twain joins Bret Harte and Kate Chopin as authors of the Regional Realism movement (Campbell). Twain's childhood experiences, his travel experiences as an adult, and his own thoughts and feelings greatly influenced the writings of the great American humorist. Twain's experiences greatly affected his writing. One of the most significant events in Twain's life was the Civil War. The Civil War proved pivotal in his life because it drew a fine line between Twain's childhood and adulthood, even though his troop of volunteers never went into combat and disbanded at the end two weeks (Ramussen). After the Civil War, he traveled west and lived in the Nevada and California areas. Specifically, he spent a few months in the mining district of Calaveras County before settling in San Francisco (Mark Twain: Chronology). This period of his life was imperative because Twain used his travel experiences to write his first successful short story, "The Famous Jumping Frog of ...... middle of paper ...... nenburg Foundation, 2014. Web . May 08, 2014Campbell, Donna M. “Regionalism and Local Color Fiction, 1865-1895.” Literary movements. Department of English, Washington State University. 07/20/2013. 12/05/14.Kazin, Alfred. "Huck Finn forced Mark Twain to become a master novelist". Reading about the adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Koster, Katie de, Leone, Stalcup. San Diego: Greenhaven. Lederer, Richard. "Mark Twain and the American language". Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. p. 472. Ramussen, Kurt R. Mark Twain: A to Z. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Smith, Henry Nash. Mark Twain: A Collection of Critical Essays. Smith, Henry Nash. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1963. p. 10.Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Dover Publications, 1994. Print.