Illustration of Huckleberry Finn standing and holding hat, entitled: "The end. Yours truly, Huck Finn" by Edward Windsor Kemble, 1884. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English, characterized by local color regionalism. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, a friend of Tom Sawyer. The book is noted for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. Perennially popular with readers, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has also been the continued object of study by literary critics since its publication. It was criticized upon release because of its coarse language and became even more controversial in the 20th century because of its perceived use of racial stereotypes and because of its frequent use of racial slurs, despite strong arguments that the protagonist, and the tenor of the book, is anti-racist.