[Glice]

For me, it's a lot more benign than the nay-sayers are saying. Twain's audience now have options - one version voided of certain inflammatory terms, and the masses of orthodox, 'as is' versions. If you're sensitive to the word 'nigger', or would rather your children weren't confronted with such terms, you now have that option. Personally, I think it's a weak parent that chooses that, but they're more than welcome to that option if they want.

There are at least 3 On the Roads, several Ulysseses, shelves of Shakespeares and an entirely baffling array of Bibles (especially if you include pseudepigrapha, upper- and lower-apocrypha and the various non-Christian traditions).

The point being that books - especially historically or culturally significant ones - will survive revision. Speaking specifically about Twain, the replacement of 'nigger' with 'slave' is dubious, certainly, but if Twain is worth anything (and I haven't read him to know, nor have I ever been interested enough in American literature to bother) he'll survive the revision.

I've also seen a few people mentioning Burroughs, here and elsewhere - Burroughs isn't, so far as I know, taught to young and impressionable children. It's as preposterous to compare Twain to Burroughs as it is to compare Twain to de Sade or Bataille.