Mark Twain
Before his literary career took off and he emerged as one of America's foremost men of letters, Mark Twain worked as a steamboat pilot in the antebellum South and Midwest. This fascinating account offers a brief history of commercial boating in the period and a probing, insightful, and eminently entertaining look at Twain's own experiences.
6) Roughing it
Known as one of American literature's finest humor writers, Mark Twain took on the travel genre in the series of essays, sketches, and observations collected in The Innocents Abroad. From classic fish-out-of-water shenanigans to keen insight into the differences between American culture and its European and Middle Eastern counterparts, this volume is an engaging and rewarding read.
Though Mark Twain is best remembered as perhaps the quintessential American humor writer, he was also a keen observer and critic of cultural and social trends. In this vein, he undertook a book-length discussion and analysis of Christian Science and New Thought, both of which enjoyed immense popularity in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States. The controversial text was originally rejected by Twain's publisher, a gesture
...Though he is best known as a humorist, famed American author Mark Twain also tried his hand at social satires, to much critical and popular acclaim. In The American Claimant, Twain provides a thematic follow-up to his previous novel, The Prince and the Pauper, with a tale of an American con artist and a British aristocrat who essentially switch places and reveal the unsavory aspects of each lifestyle and social milieu.
Tom Sawyer, Detective follows Twain's popular novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer Abroad. In this novel, Tom turns detective, trying to solve a murder. Twain plays with and celebrates the detective novel, wildly popular at the time. This novel, like the others, is told through the first-person narrative of Huck Finn.
12) A tramp abroad
Tom Sawyer Abroad sees Tom, Huck Finn and Jim board a futuristic hot air balloon bound for Africa, in a parody of the popular science fiction/travel adventure stories of the time. In Africa they encounter wild animals and immense man-made wonders. The novel is narrated by Huck Finn.
In How to Tell a Story and Other Essays, iconic American author Mark Twain discusses his own experience as a writer and his personal style. In various essays in the collection he attacks a contemporary of his, defends a maligned dead woman and defends ordinary citizens against the insults of train conductors.
In this literary smackdown, one giant of American literature thoroughly demolishes the literary output of another. With his trademark plainspoken wit, Mark Twain presents a catalog of everything he hates about the work of James Fenimore Cooper, author of such classics as The Last of the Mohicans. Whether you're Team Twain or Team Fenimore Cooper, you're sure to be entertained by this cutting takedown.
Although Mark Twain is revered as a master of American fiction, he was also known in his time for possessing a remarkable facility with the essay form. This collection of surprisingly insightful non-fiction and fiction pieces showcases Twain's astounding breadth as a writer. A must-read for fans of Twain's no-nonsense prose.
18) Eve's Diary
Only humor writer extraordinaire Mark Twain could inject so much wit and hilarity into the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall of Man. This short story takes the form of excerpts from Eve's personal journal, providing a unique feminine account of the first human couple that deviates in a few important regards from the "official" version.
The only book that Mark Twain ever wrote in collaboration with another author, The Gilded Age is a novel that viciously and hilariously satirizes the greed, materialism, and corruption that characterized much of upper-class America in the nineteenth century. The title term—inspired by a line in Shakespeare's King John—has become synonymous with the excess of the era.
Following the Equator is an account by Mark Twain of his travels through the British Empire in 1895. He chose his route for opportunities to lecture on the English language and recoup his finances, impoverished due to a failed investment. He recounts and criticizes the racism, imperialism and missionary zeal he encountered on his travels - and all with his particular brand of wit.