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It might be considered surprising that a platform that limits its users to 140 characters has so many literary-themed accounts. Our favorite of these are the parody accounts, spoofing famous authors from beyond the grave.

For the purposes of entertainment and inspiration, we’ve pulled together our best-of selection. Although there are many accounts that just push out the written word of authors, we’ve focussed on those that comment and engage using a particular author’s voice.

Take a look through the slideshow below for our favorites and suggest in the comments any we’ve missed. We’ll add the best suggestion in as the tenth slide.

1. Jonathan Swift

You might expect some tales of merry adventure from Gulliver's Travels author Jonathan Swift, but this Swift is more concerned with where his next gin is coming from, the antics of his whippet and the unseemly behavior of his constant companion Stella. Written in olde English, following this account will bring such vocab delights as "periwigtastrophe" to your stream.

2. Charles Dickens

This account manages to get the balance between a character voice and modern commentary spot on: "If I wrote Great Expectations in the year 2011, young Pip would desire to be famous, rather than a gentleman. Fame is the new class." Polite interactions with other period characters and elegantly phrased comments on London life in general should keep you amused.

3. Walt Whitman

With a huge beard, even larger appetite and out-spoken opinions, Whitman is a larger-than-life character. Not one to follow if you're easily offended, but if you're not, you'll enjoy this sometimes surreal stream as much as we do.

4. Laura Ingalls Wilder

Wendy McClure's Wilder is a true Twitter treasure. Offering amusing commentary about domestic life on the prairie, we'd like to think the Little House series author would have enjoyed these witty "Twittergraphs" sent over the wires in her honor.

5. Edgar Allan Poe

With more than 24,000 followers, it seems many of you are already tuned into Poe's brand of marvellous macabre humor. Poe's darkly funny standalone tweets are something to look forward to, but his #askpoe sessions are even funnier still.

6. Alexander Pope

This account continues Pope's line of satirical verse with 140-character comic rhymes on contemporary topics that will make you groan. Don't believe us? Try "Hath Peter FALK at least felt HADES' Sting? / 'Tis no use asking DEATH for 'one more thing'."

7. James Boswell

With ready opinion on modern British "politicks" and media and -- when he's left babysitting two small children, news from the home front that usually involves "VILE EXCRESENCES" from various orifices -- Boswell is a mixed bag of fun to follow.

8. Samuel Johnson

You can also find the subject of James Boswell's famous biography on Twitter. Samuel Johnson offers hilarious commentary on current events in an 18th century tongue. Johnson appears bemused by modern life ("The prominent Persons 'pon the Video Music Awards do sport opaque Eye-Glasses & wave their Hands as if afflicted by PALSY") making for witty tweets.

9. William Shakespeare

The Bard is big on Twitter. In addition to accounts offering his works in 140-character bursts, there are several spoof accounts. While you should also check out Mr_Shakespeare and Wwm_Shakespeare, we felt this particular parody account worthy of featuring -- if not just for the fantastic tweet shown above.

10. ?????

Have a favorite we haven't mentioned? Make your suggestion in the comments below for the tenth account to feature on this list. Remember we're focussing on active accounts that engage in the author's voice, rather than just publish previous works.

Image courtesy of takomabibelot

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, joecicak

More About: gallery, Lists, parody, spoofs, trending, twitter, Twitter Lists

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