Ben Shattuck’s hip and ironic ‘The History of Sound’ a perfect pick for Mark Twain award

The short story collection doesn’t just touch on cultural themes Twain would have appreciated, it deals in the sort of wordplay and conscious undermining of literary formats he popularized.

‘Hamilton,’ a decade old and still a huge musical hit, takes another shot at The Bushnell

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s mix of American history, theatrical diversity and contemporary hip-hop is returning to Hartford for a two-week run Nov. 4-16.