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Hailed by the New York Herald as “an oasis in the desert of works on foreign travel,” The Innocents Abroad was a great success when first published, and it remained the bestselling of all Twain’s works throughout his lifetime. It shows the author at the height of his literary power as he records razor-sharp, often hilarious, observations of the people he meets and places he visits during a trip to Europe and the Holy Land in 1867.Originally a series of travel letters written for a San Francisco newspaper, the book presents a refreshingly honest and vivid view of such places as Tangier, Marseilles, Gibraltar, Rome, Constantinople, and Damascus. Twain’s humor takes a particularly satirical turn toward tourists who rely on travel guidebooks rather than personal impressions to define their travel experiences. The book alternates light-hearted chapters with serious passages involving history, statistics, and descriptions of religious relics, artwork, and architecture.From amusements and tribulations at sea, viewing the “outrageous” cancan in Paris, and witnessing the notable sights of Venice, to observing the grandeur of St. Peter’s, ascending Vesuvius, and contemplating the remains of Solomon’s Temple, this classic will delight a wide audience, including longtime fans of the American humorist and anyone who enjoys an entertaining and enlightening travel book. This edition also includes all the illustrations from the original publication.

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"We sai1ed for America, and there made certain preparations. This took but little time. Two members of my family elected to go with me. Also a carbuncle. The dictionary says a carbuncle is a kind of jewel. Humor is out of place in a dictionary." — Following the EquatorSo begins this classic piece of travel writing, brimming with Twain's celebrated brand of ironic, tongue-in-cheek humor. Written just before the turn of the century, the book recounts a lecture tour in which he circumnavigated the globe via steamship, including stops at the Hawaiian Islands, Australia, Fiji Islands, New Zealand, India, South Africa and elsewhere.View the world through the eyes of the celebrated author as he describes a rich range of experiences — visiting a leper colony in Hawaii, shark fishing in Australia, tiger hunting, diamond mining in South Africa, and riding the rails in India, an activity Twain enjoyed immensely as suggested by this description of a steep descent in a hand-car: «The road fell sharply down in front of us and went corkscrewing in and out around the crags and precipices, down, down, forever down, suggesting nothing so exactly or so uncomfortably as a crooked toboggan slide with no end to it. . . . I had previously had but one sensation like the shock of that departure, and that was the gaspy shock that took my breath away the first time that I was discharged from the summit of a toboggan slide. But in both instances the sensation was pleasurable — intensely so; it was a sudden and immense exaltation, a mixed ecstasy of deadly fright and unimaginable joy. I believe that this combination makes the perfection of human delight.»A wealth of similarly revealing observations enhances this account, along with perceptive descriptions and discussions of people, climate, flora and fauna, indigenous cultures, religion, customs, politics, food, and many other topics. Despite its jocular tone, this book has a serious thread running through it, recording Twain's observations of the mistreatments and miseries of mankind. Enhanced by over 190 illustrations, including 173 photographs, this paperback edition — the only one avai1able — will be welcomed by all admirers of Mark Twain or classic travel books.

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Renowned as a novelist, journalist, and humorist, Mark Twain is not only one of the most widely read and admired American writers, he is also among the most quoted. Wit and repartee permeate his work — from the short, light pieces to his great novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and even later, in dark meditations on the human condition where his humor takes on a cynical, satirical twist. This remarkably inexpensive volume gathers together hundreds of Twain's most memorable quips and comments on life, love, history, culture, travel, and a diversity of other topics that occupied his thoughts over 50 years of writing and lecturing.An invaluable, ready reference for writers, speakers, and others in search of amusing and insightful quotes, this entertaining and thought-provoking compilation is also an ideal introduction to Twain's inimitable style and thought.

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The success of Twain's first collection of travel memoirs, The Innocents Abroad, inspired a return to Europe for another look at some of the countries and landmarks that initially dazzled the author and his companions. In A Tramp Abroad, Twain's abundant humor waxes as freely as ever; this time, however, his amusement bears a more cynical cast, as he regards the grand tourist sights in Innocents through older and more experienced eyes. The seriousness of the author's second impressions provides an interesting subtext to the overall jocularity of his narrative, making this volume a milestone in the Twain oeuvre and a must for his legions of admirers. Appendix.

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Switched at birth by a young slave woman attempting to protect her son from the horrors of slavery, a light-skinned infant changes places with the master's white son. This simple premise is the basis of Pudd'nhead Wilson, a compelling drama that contains all the elements of a classic nineteenth-century mystery: reversed identities, a ghastly crime, an eccentric detective, and a tense courtroom scene.First published in 1894, Twain's novel bristles with suspense. David «Pudd’nhead» Wilson, a wise but unorthodox lawyer who collects fingerprints as a hobby, wins back the respect of his townspeople when he solves a local murder in which two foreigners are falsely accused. Witty and absorbing, this novel features a literary first — the use of fingerprinting to solve a crime. This gem was Twain's last novel about the antebellum South; and despite its frequent injections of humor, it offers a fierce condemnation of racial prejudice and a society that condoned slavery.

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Regarded by many as the most luminous example of Mark Twain's work, this fictional biography of Joan of Arc was purportedly written by Joan's page and secretary — Sieur Louis de Conté. (Twain's alter ego even shared the author's same initials — S. L. C.) Told from the viewpoint of this lifelong friend, the historical novel is a panorama of stirring scenes and marvel of pageantry — from Joan's early childhood in Domremy and her touching story of the voices, to the fight for Orleans, the taking of Tourelles and Jargeau, and the splendid march to Rheims.But above all, the work is an amazing record that disclosed Twain's unrestrained admiration of the French heroine's nobility of character. Throughout his life, she remained his favorite historical figure — «the most innocent, the most lovely, the most adorable child the ages have produced.»Completed when the author was nearly sixty, the book reveals a splendidly expressive side of Twain, who wrote, «I like the Joan of Arc best of all my books; & it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others: 12 years of preparation & 2 years of writing. The others needed no preparation, & got none.»Matchless in its workmanship, this lesser work will charm — and delightfully surprise — admirers and devotees of the great American author.

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The author of outstanding travel books, autobiographical works and novels, including the classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835–1910) is regarded by many as America's finest humorist and a major writer of short stories.The four selections in this volume span his entire writing career and are among his best-known stories. They include: «The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,» one of Twain's most amusing pieces of folk humor, first published in 1865; «The £1,000,000 Bank Note,» a lighthearted exploration of the power of money; «The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg,» a masterfully written short story about greed; and his last work, «The Mysterious Stranger,» a novelette published posthumously in 1916, presenting Twain's rather grim views of God, man, and the universe.

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He was Sam Clemens, steamboat pilot, before he was Mark Twain, famous author. His better-known name originated with the lingo of navigation, and much of his writing was informed by his shipboard adventures on one of the world's great rivers. In this classic of American literature, Twain offers lively recollections ranging from his salad days as a novice pilot to views from the passenger deck in the twilight of the river culture’s heyday. Under the tutelage of the most celebrated pilot on the Mississippi, young Twain acquires the skills to navigate a constantly changing riverscape, avoiding potential collisions with other boats and traversing winding channels in the dead of night. The vivid and ever-engaging narrative encompasses tales of riverside town feuds, the professional vicissitudes of a riverboat gambler, dramatic accounts of life in Vicksburg as the city lay under siege during the Civil War, and many other scenes from a now-vanished way of life. These antebellum visions take on a bittersweet cast with the author's postwar return to the region, when railroad competition has largely doomed the commercial steamboat and the old ways of life are passing into history. A testimonial to Twain's repute as the most popular humorist of his day, these reminiscences crackle with comic anecdotes and energetic witticisms. Engrossing and entertaining, this volume will captivate devotees of Twain, steamboat buffs, lovers of Americana, and students of American literature.

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Mark Twain's inimitable blend of humor, satire and masterly storytelling earned him a secure place in the front rank of American writers. This collection of eight stories and sketches, among them the celebrated classic «The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,» shows the great humorist at the top of his form.Also included here are «Journalism in Tennessee,» in which a novice newspaperman is shown the «correct way» to report a news story; «About Barbers,» a delightful account of every barbershop customer's worst fear; «Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences,» Twain's hilarious savaging of that author's style, and four more: «A Literary Nightmare,» «The Stolen White Elephant,» «The Private History of a Campaign that Failed» and «How to Tell a Story.»Delightfully entertaining, these charming pieces will find an appreciative audience among students, general readers and lovers of classic American humor.

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"Good deal of fog this morning. I do not go out in the fog myself," notes Adam in his diary, adding, «The new creature does. It goes out in all weathers. And talks. It used to be so pleasant and quiet here.»Adam has a lot to learn about Eve, and even more from her, as she names the animals, discovers fire, and introduces all manner of innovations to their garden home. Mark Twain's «translation» of the diaries of the first man and woman offers a humorous «he said/she said» narrative of biblical events. The great American storyteller found comfort and inspiration in the company of women, and his irreverent look at conventional religion is also a thoughtful—and humorous—argument for gender equality.In addition to the tales from Eden, this collection features five short stories: «The $30,000 Bequest,» «Was It Heaven? Or Hell?» «Edward Mills and George Benton: A Tale,» «The Californian’s Tale,» and «A Monument to Adam.»

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