Mark Twain Collection Series

Mark Twain's popular novel chronicles the adventures of two young boys, a Prince and a Pauper, who exchange roles and stations in life. Each boy has strong misconception's of what the other boys life is like and series of educational and entertaining adventures play out as the boys grow more comfortable in both their real and assumed roles in life. Mark Twain's Prince and the Pauper is a popular story and a classic from American Literature.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. In the novel Tom Sawyer has several adventures, often with his friend, Huckleberry Finn. Originally a commercial failure, the book ended up being the best selling of any of Twain's works during his lifetime. Although The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is sometimes overshadowed by its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book is considered a masterpiece of American literature, and was one of the first novels to be written on a typewriter.

The celebrated author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn mixes fact and fiction in a rousing travelogue that serves as "a portrait of the artist as a young adventurer."* In 1861, young Mark Twain found himself adrift as a newcomer in the Wild West, working as a civil servant, silver prospector, mill worker, and finally a reporter and traveling lecturer. Roughing It is the hilarious record of those early years traveling from Nevada to California to Hawaii, as Twain tried his luck at anything and everything--and usually failed. Twain's encounters with tarantulas and donkeys, vigilantes and volcanoes, even Brigham Young, the Mormon leader, come to life with his inimitable mixture of reporting, social satire, and rollicking tall tales.

Mark Twain's story of a boy's journey down the Mississippi on a raft conveyed the voice and experience of the American frontier as no other work had done before. When Huck escapes from his drunken, abusive 'Pap' and the 'sivilizing' Widow Douglas with runaway slave Jim, he embarks on a series of adventures that draw him to feuding families and the trickery of the unscrupulous 'Duke' and 'Dauphin'. Beneath the exploits, however, are more serious undercurrents - of slavery, adult control and, above all, of Huck's struggle between his instinctive goodness and the corrupt values of society which threaten his deep and enduring friendship with Jim.  

At once a romantic history of a mighty river, an autobiographical account of Twain's early steamboat days, and a storehouse of humorous anecdotes and sketches, here is the raw material from which Mark Twain wrote his finest novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi River, was host to riverboat travelers from around the world, providing a vigorous and variable atmosphere for the young Samuel Clemens to absorb. Clemens became a riverboat pilot and even chose his pen name—Mark Twain—from a term boatmen would call out signifying water depth at two fathoms, meaning safe clearance for travel. It was from this background that Life on the Mississippi emerged. It is an epochal record of America’s growth, a stirring remembrance of her vanished past. And it earned for its author his first recognition as a serious writer.

The King of Siam decided to send a white elephant to the Queen of England as a gift. The ship stopped at New Jersey and after two weeks the elephant was stolen. The elephant's deliverer went to New York looking for the police force. The Inspector Blunt helped him with the case, he asked about the eating habits and the appearance of Jumbo. Then they received telegrams with some clues about the possible robbers and the location of the elephant. The deliverer offered a reward to the detective who found the elephant, it started with 25 thousand dollars and raised until one hundred thousand dollars. After few days, the elephant was accused of killing people and destroying the streets. The detective sent and received some notes from the thieves and they made and appointment. The Inspector took the deliverer to the building basement and there was the elephant, dead due to the hunger.

In this collection, fans of Twain will surely enjoy reading his essays like "On The Decay of the Art of Lying," "About Magnanimous-Incident Literature," and "Concerning the American Language," and "Speech on the Weather." It's worth reading every story here in order to understand just how gifted Twain is in my arenas of knowledge and how entertaining his anecdotes and observations on life can be. Fun reads throughout this collection.

The American Claimant is not one of Mark Twain’s better known books such as Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (in which a total eclipse of the Sun has a major role). That said, it is a light humorous book that is a pleasure to read. The main character is an eccentric American inventor and claimant to the Earldom of Rossmore in the UK who glories in the name Colonel Mulberry Sellers. Initially, his antics appear plain silly, but as the book progresses some genuinely funny situations are set up. There is also a pleasant romance to add a little bit of spice to the book. At the end, of course, everything is satisfactorily resolved and everyone lives happily ever after. For those looking for a light read the American Claimant is highly recommended.

How to Tell a Story and Other Essays is a series of essays by Mark Twain. In them, he describes his own writing style, attacks the idiocy of a fellow author, defends the virtue of a dead woman, and tries to protect ordinary citizens from insults by railroad conductors. The essays contained include How to Tell a Story, The Wounded Soldier, The Golden Arm, Mental Telegraphy Again, and The Invalid's Story.

When a murder is committed in town and his uncle is accused of the crime, Tom plays the role of the detective to solve the case before it is too late.Tom Sawyer Detective is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer Abroad, and is Mark Twain’s final book featuring the iconic characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Detective is told from Huck’s perspective and in his unique voice.

Twain's account of travelling in Europe, A TRAMP ABROAD (1880), sparkles with the author's shrewd observations and highly opinionated comments on Old World culture, and showcases his unparalleled ability to integrate humorous sketches, autobiographical tidbits, and historical anecdotes in a consistently entertaining narrative. Cast in the form of a walking tour through Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy, A TRAMP ABROAD includes among its adventures a voyage by raft down the Neckar and an ascent of Mount Blanc by telescope, as well as the author's attempts to study art - a wholly imagined activity Twain 'authenticated'

In 1867, Mark Twain and a group fellow-Americans toured Europe and the Holy Land, aboard a retired Civil War ship known as “Quaker City.” Throughout the journey, Twain kept a written record of his experiences. “The Innocents Abroad” is both a travelogue and a critique of clashing cultures—but more importantly, it is an entertaining and insightful work written by one of the great masters of American prose. One of the most famous travel books ever written by an American, The Innocents Abroad is Mark Twain’s irreverent and incisive commentary on nineteenth century Americans encountering the Old World.

Spanning the time between 1872 and the year just before he died, this collection of after-dinner speeches, random thoughts to "the press", etc. clearly documents, once again, the truly eclectic mind of Samuel Clemens. It also demonstrates how he dealt with adulation, compliments and notoriety...head on! This collection is a treasure-trove of Twain sayings, witticisms and pronouncements on a huge galaxy of issues and concerns in his life.

First published in 1894. It features Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in a parody of Jules Verne-esque adventure stories. In the story, Tom, Huck, and Jim set sail to Africa in a futuristic hot air balloon, where they survive encounters with lions, robbers, and fleas to see some of the world's greatest wonders, including the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, Detective, the story is told using the first-person narrative voice of Huck Finn.

The title story of this collection of short stories features the tale of the "most honest and upright" town of Hadleyburg, whose residents boast of their unsmirched moral character. A stranger, offended by the pious reputation of the town, devises a plan to bring its honored residents to shame. Is there even one righteous man in Hadleyburg?

The Mysterious Stranger is an unfinished work and the last novel attempted by the American author Mark Twain. It was worked on periodically from roughly 1890 up until his death in 1910. The body of work is a serious social commentary by Twain addressing his ideas of the Moral Sense and the "damned human race"The other stories in this book are: "A Fable", "Hunting the Deceitful Turkey" and "The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm"

When Connecticut mechanic and foreman Hank Morgan is knocked unconscious, he wakes not to the familiar scenes of nineteenth-century America but to the bewildering sights and sounds of sixth-century Camelot. Although confused at first and quickly imprisoned, he soon realises that his knowledge of the future can transform his fate. Correctly predicting a solar eclipse from inside his prison cell, Morgan terrifies the people of England into releasing him and swiftly establishes himself as the most powerful magician in the land, stronger than Merlin and greatly admired by Arthur himself. But the Connecticut Yankee wishes for more than simply a place at the Round Table. Soon, he begins a far greater struggle: to bring American democratic ideals to Old England. Complex and fascinating, A Connecticut Yankee is a darkly comic consideration of the nature of human nature and society.

Is Shakespeare Dead? is a short, semi-autobiographical work by American humorist Mark Twain. It explores the controversy over the authorship of the Shakespearean literary canon via satire, anecdote, and extensive quotation of contemporary authors on the subject. It was published in April 1909, twelve months before Mark Twain's death.

The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson begins with the act of a young slave girl exchanging her light-skinned child, fearing for its safety, for that of her master's. From this reversal of identities evolves a suspenseful murder mystery and courtroom drama. "The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson" is everything one would expect from a novel by Mark Twain. On the surface it is a witty and satirical tale but as one digs deeper a biting social commentary of racial inequality can be found.