Synopses & Reviews
For deft plotting, riotous inventiveness, unforgettable characters, and language that brilliantly captures the lively rhythms of American speech, no American writer comes close to Mark Twain. This sparkling anthology covers the entire span of Twains inimitable yarn-spinning, from his early broad comedy to the biting satire of his later years.
Every one of his sixty stories is here: ranging from the frontier humor of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” to the bitter vision of humankind in “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg,” to the delightful hilarity of “Is He Living or Is He Dead?” Surging with Twains ebullient wit and penetrating insight into the follies of human nature, this volume is a vibrant summation of the career of-in the words of H. L. Mencken-“the father of our national literature.”
Synopsis
Gathers all sixty of Twains stories, including tall tales, mysteries, sketches, and tales of travel
About the Author
Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835. He gained national attention as a humorist in 1865 with the publication of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," but was acknowledged as a great writer by the literary establishment with The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (1885). In 1880, Twain began promoting and financing the ill-fated Paige typesetter, an invention designed to make the printing process fully automatic. At the height of his naively optimistic involvement in the technological "wonder" that nearly drove him to bankruptcy, he published his satire, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889). Plagued by personal tragedy and financial failure, Mark Twain spent the last years of his life in gloom and exasperation, writing fables about "the damned human race."
Table of Contents
The notorious jumping frog of Calaveras County -- The story of the bad little boy -- Cannibalism in the cars -- A day at Niagara -- Legend of the Capitoline Venus -- Journalism in Tennessee -- A curious dream -- The facts in the great beef contract -- How I edited an agricultural paper -- A medieval romance -- My watch -- Political economy -- Science vs. luck -- The story of the good little boy -- Buck Fanshaw's funeral -- The story of the old ram -- Tom Quartz -- A trial -- The trials of Simon Erickson -- A true story --Experience of the McWilliamses with membranous croup -- Some learned fables for good old boys and girls -- The canvasser's tale -- The loves of Alonzo Fitz Clarence and Rosannah Ethelton -- Edward Mills and George Benton: a tale -- The man who put up at Gadsby's -- Mrs. McWilliams and the lightning -- What stumped the bluejays -- A curious experience -- The invalid's story -- The McWilliamses and the burglar alarm -- The stolen white elephant --A burning brand -- A dying man's confession -- The professor's yarn -- A ghost story -- Luck -- Playing courier -- The Californian's tale -- The diary of Adam and Eve -- The Esquimau maiden's romance -- Is he living or is he dead? --The 1,000,000 bank-note -- Cecil Rhodes and the shark --The joke that made Ed's fortune -- A story without an end -- The man that corrupted Hadleyburg -- The death disk -- Two little tales -- The belated Russian passport -- A double-barreled detective story -- The five boons of life-- Was it heaven? Or hell? -- A dog's tale -- The $30,000 bequest -- A horse's tale -- Hunting the deceitful turkey -- Extract from Captain Stormfield's visit to heaven -- A fable -- The mysterious stranger.