Product Description
"I've struck it!" Mark Twain wrote in a 1904 letter to a friend. "And I will give it away--to you. You will never know how much enjoyment you have lost until you get to dictating your autobiography." Thus, after dozens of false starts and hundreds of pages, Twain embarked on his "Final (and Right) Plan" for telling the story of his life. His innovative notion--to "talk only about the thing which interests you for the moment"--meant that his thoughts could range freely. The strict instruction that many of these texts remain unpublished for 100 years meant that when they came out, he would be "dead, and unaware, and indifferent," and that he was therefore free to speak his "whole frank mind." The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Twain's death. In celebration of this important milestone and in honor of the cherished tradition of publishing Mark Twain's works, UC Press is proud to offer for the first time Mark Twain's uncensored autobiography in its entirety and exactly as he left it. This major literary event brings to readers, admirers, and scholars the first of three volumes and presents Mark Twain's authentic and unsuppressed voice, brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions, and speaking clearly from the grave as he intended. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Tremendous Book
Other reviews have said what can be said about the content of this book. It is an immensely enjoyable read. having been a fan of Mark Twain's non-fiction writing for many, many years, I've thoroughly enjoyed this. This is a five-star book, I shall not rate the content on the choices of the publisher.

On that, while the print is small, the book itself is enormous for a book of less than 800 pages. The weight of the paper contributes heavily to that. While I appreciate the need to relate the weight of the work in physical form, I believe better choices could have been made to use larger print on thinner paper in the same spacial volume.

But I bought this book for its content, not its presentation. And the content is exceptional. I cannot wait for the other volumes.

small print dooms this amazing book
the clerk at my local bookstore expressed astonishment
at how tiny the print was when we unwrapped the book---
her comment was basically "what was the publisher thinking"?

i'm only 45 and have no problem reading 99.9% of the
books that i pick up but this book is virtually unreadable
because of the tiny print.

the publisher needs to take note and reprint this (and
the two remaining volumes) with print that is legible
to the human eye.

i have been reading twain since my undergraduate days and
this is a major bummer for me.

tc

A new view of Mark Twain
"WOW! This volume is a wonder. For one thing, it provides something like a mystery novel perspective on the archeology of Samuel Clemens'/Mark Twain's autobiography. He wrote fragments to be part of this document over a period of four decades. Simply getting a sense of the architecture for this work desired by Twain is a contribution of this work.

Also, Twain notes that he is unable to be consistently honest about his life. Nice candor! He demanded that his version not be published until 100 years after his death. Figuring out exactly what his version was represents a major effort by the editor and others involved in this project.

The book is divided into several sections. First, a sixty page introduction, where we learn of the origins of the autobiography and how it developed. Also, the assumptions underlying this version. Next, "preliminary manuscripts and dictations, 1870-1905." The raw material of Twain's autobiography. Then, the first volume of the autobiography.

But it is the end result presented by the editor, Harriet Elinor Smith, that makes this volume so important. Twain comes across as cantankerous, humorous, politically savvy. . . . Early on, he makes comments about slavery. His acerbic commentaries on friends and family show a real edge to his writing. Even the photo on the dust jacket suggests that this work is about a real person and is not just a "feel good" work.

This is not a strictly chronological sequence. Twain moves back and forth in time. As he notes (Page 220): ". . .I hit upon the right way to do an Autobiography: start it at no particular time of your life; wander at your free will all over your life; talk only about the thing which interests you for the moment; drop it the moment its interest threatens to pale, and talk about the new and more interesting thing that has intruded itself into your mind meantime."

This volume ends with a letter from Helen Keller, suggesting how untraditional this work is. It can almost be described as "pastiche," where Twain brings in bits and pieces of material to make the points that he wishes to make. After the autobiographical portion, we read the explanatory notes (which flesh things out).

I find this a remarkable work, providing a view of Twain that is hardly candy coated, but yet seemingly gives us insights into his nature, life, and his genius. I find this work almost overwhelming. Well worth looking at. . . . Clearly a major work.

Wonderful, but beyond any adequate description
Fifteen minutes ago I finished reading Volume One of the newly published "Autobiography of Mark Twain".It is no more possible to adequately describe this massive book as to attempt to fully capture the full, intricate realities of a vast range of wild mountains.

Twain tried for many years to write his autobiography, but time and again his efforts ground to a halt and were abandoned, although fragments were kept for eventual use (and presented as part of this Volume One).It was not until Twain fixed upon the mode of orally dictating his autobiography that he found a method that really worked for him and allowed him to complete the project to his own satisfaction.The first portion of these 1906 dictations (plus explanatory editorial notes) form the heart of the present volume (two more volumes will eventually be released to complete the "Autobiography").The result certainly does not follow a standard autobiographical approach (which Twain characterizes as a "plan that starts you at the cradle and drives you straight for the grave, with no side-excursions permitted on the way.Whereas the side-excursions are the life of our life-voyage, and should be, also, of its history.")The "Autobiography" as dictated instead is all side-excursion, almost stream of consciousness.Twain's intent was that it not be published in unexpurgated form until a hundred years after his death, leaving him free to say whatever he wished about whomever he wished to speak.Portions of it have indeed been published from time to time, in a highly edited form bearing little resemblance to what Twain intended as the true "Autobiography".

In approaching the "Autobiography" the reader should not expect a conventional, chronologically arranged, continuous narrative in the traditional style.Twain strove intentionally, and successfully, to avoid that, instead reaching for an entirely novel style suitable for avoiding what he considered to be the usual "lying" (perhaps especially lying to oneself) found in standard autobiographies.The present volume is presented in four distinct parts:First is a lengthy explanatory section from the editors, providing the background for the "Autobiography" and explaining what Twain was aiming for; this section is probably necessary for better appreciating what Twain eventually achieved, but probably is not the best place to begin browsing.Second are the fragments of autobiographical material Twain wrote over the last few decades of the 19th century, fragments left over from his g=failed attempts to create an autobiography but retained by him as containing enough material and honesty to satisfy his desires.Third is the real heart of the book: oral dictations that left Twain free to dart and drift wherever his thoughts led him, free of any rigid structure; this section is most open to casual browsing.And fourth are lengthy notes and comments from the editors on Twain's text and dictations, correcting factual errors and expanding upon details.

Reading the dictations is as near as one could hope to be sitting in a room with Twain, listening to him ramble along, mixing trivial events of forty or sixty years before with headlines from today's newspaper -- an effect that Twain was deliberately creating -- and dizzyingly flipping the pages of the calendar back and forth.Imagine Twain sitting there with a cigar and perhaps a glass of Scotch whiskey.Imagine yourself with the cigar and Scotch.It is wonderful, in the true, fundamental sense of that word.

The Scholarly Mark Twain Edition
The potential reader for this edition should be aware of several items. First, this autobiography is an oversize hardbook which means it may not fit into a bookshelf with other more traditional hardbooks. Second this is an academic press which means that there is a long introduction and discussion of prior autobiographical starts by Mark Twain (1870-1905) for two hundred pages. The actual autobiography of Mark Twain is only 270 pages of transcriptions from his dictation of his 1906 attempt to write his life story. Following the narrative are an additional 150+ pages of notes, index and appendixes. Two more volumes will be published later. Third, this edition is a rambling text with no chronological sequence. Mark Twain told stories as he remembered as they came to his memory. None of these observations are negative but the reader should be aware of these differences.

This book aims to be the definitive edition by publishing everything that Mark dictated or wrote after 1905 in the order that it came into creation. Prior publications were much shorter as various editors organized what they thought was interesting, had his family's approval and was in some chronlogical sequence (Charles Neider did the best overall job of this fifty years ago). What the reader has here is Mark Twain's true speaking voice -- he is doing a monologue in your presence, going wherever his memory takes him.

... Read more

Product Description
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. Twain is most noted for his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885). He is also known for his quotations. His first important work, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, was published in 1865. His next publication was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which drew on his youth in Hannibal. The character of Tom Sawyer was modeled on twain as a child, with traces of two schoolmates, John Briggs and Will Bowen. His next major published work, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, solidified him as a noteworthy American writer. Some have called it the first Great American Novel. Finn was an offshoot from Tom Sawyer and proved to have a more serious tone than its predecessor. The main premise behind Huckleberry Finn is the young boy's belief in the right thing to do even though the majority of society believes that it was wrong. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Mark Twain extras
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (Baby Board Books)

American writer Samuel Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain has given us some literary gems with Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and his travel adventures in nineteenth-century Europe and to Australia and New Zealand. Here is is discussing telling rather than writing a story.

Humour, he says, is American while comic is English and witty is French. He follows this typically brilliant essay with examples of story telling and some intriguing experiences of mental telegraphy.

Good on you Dodo Press for specialising in rare and out-of-print books.

Mark Twain devotees will want to add this slim volume to their collection.

From the mouth of an American master
An entertaining read from on of America's treasured voices. I was particularly interested in the "How to Tell a Story" Essay and Mark Twain's lessons are just as relavent today. Kindle version was a welcome convenience and you can't beat the price!!

An excellent collection but not what is described here
The actual contents of the free and the one dollar Kindle editions include:

How to Tell a Story
The Wounded Soldier
The Golden Arm
Mental Telegraphy Again
The Invalids Story

"Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences" and "Traveling With a Reformer" do not appear in this edition, in either the free or the $1.00 edition, despite the editorial comment to the contrary. The wonderful Fenimore Cooper essay is available online several places for free; see the second Comment for a link to UVA's collection. There are at least two Kindle versions for a buck or so:

The Literary Offenses of Fenimore Cooper $1.00.

Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences $.99

Nonetheless, this is still a very interesting collection, especially if you read aloud to children or adults. Twain has a great gift for explaining how to tell even a poor story.

Despite his disclaimer: "I do not claim that I can tell a story as it ought to be told. I only claim to know how a story ought to be told, for I have been almost daily in the company of the most expert story-tellers for many years."

A joy to read, silently or aloud, and the price is right.

Robert C. Ross2009 ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

the un-complete short stories
This volume claims to present the complete short stories of Mark Twain. It contains sixty stories but is far from being complete.
Indeed in other editions I have collected thirty-three more tales, some of them absolutely extraordinary, and worthy to be anthologized.
For instance 'Mr Bloke's item' published in 1865 seems completely forgotten. But one of the funniest stories I know.
Nevertheless this book is very entertaining, if not complete.

Great Collection
This is a great collection of Twain's short story "song book". To agree with one review, the way in which it is published does make some of the stories in the middle of the book hard to read, and to disagree with another, this is a collection of sixty short stories so do not base you opinion of Twain's work on one cynical story with the simple message of "Life's not fair".

The collection really helps to give great insight on Twain's progression as a writer and thinker and is a great read for any person interested in American Fiction.

Short and Sad
A Dog's Tale is a beautifully written short story that abandons the satirical humor of Clemens halfway through. Anyone that can appreciate a well written tear jerker will love this emotional afternoon read.

A Dog's Tale
it's a trick, don't read it.
definitely put it down when the family goes on vacation.

Absolutely Indispensable
Though most famous for novels and non-fiction, Mark Twain is one of the all-time great short story writers. His shorts are indeed as essential as his other work. This magnificent collection is currently the most popular - not to mention the most comprehensive that can be easily found -, making it one of the few works that truly belongs on everyone's bookshelf.

It has sixty stories over nearly 700 pages, arranged chronologically and covering Twain's whole writing career. Included are some of the most famous and best short stories ever, such as "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," "The Stolen White Elephant," "Luck," "The One Million Pound Bank-Note," "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg," "A Dog's Tale," "Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven," and "The Mysterious Stranger." It also has some of my personal favorites like "A Double-Barreled Detective Story" and "Was It Heaven? Or Hell?" The quality and variety is simply astonishing; it is hard to believe a single person could produce such greatness, and to have it all in one book is simply incredible. One of the most fascinating things is to see how Twain's stories grew darker. Though often sharply satirical, early pieces are nearly all light-hearted and often comical - some of the more memorably pleasant light reading in existence. However, Twain became ever more embittered, and his stories - some of which he dared not have published while alive - clearly reflect this. Dark masterpieces like "Hadleyburg" and "The Mysterious" seethe with misanthropy and deep pessimism. The contrast is nothing less than stunning and sometimes makes transitions awkward, but the chronological approach is still the best way to appreciate the breadth of Twain's accomplishment. Some stories are less good, but there is more to make us laugh, cry, and think here than in most writers' whole careers; Twain is one of the few truly immortal artists, and this is an essential part of his legacy.

There is no arguing with what is here; editor Charles Neider even includes excellent works like "The Diary of Adam and Eve" that are not often given in such collections as well as thirteen selections culled from non-fiction books. However, the title is misleading, and hard-cores will notice many omissions. All significant works qualifying as short stories by the strictest definition are here, but Twain wrote many short pieces that straddled the border between fiction and various genres. This included numerous pieces before "The Notorious," universally considered his first real literary effort, but they are very minor and of interest only to true diehards and scholars. More significant, though, are multiple omissions of works - many from late in his career - that dramatized various sociopolitical, philosophical, and theological concerns in quasi-fictional form. These include some very substantial works such as "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed," "The War Prayer," "King Leopold's Soliloquy" and its associated Czar piece, and "1601," as well as some of my favorites like "The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut." Neider is upfront about not including anything but pure short stories, but some will disagree with his calls. Also questionable is his decision to include the first published version of "The Mysterious," which was not authorized by Twain or printed as he wished, though the text's history is admittedly very complicated and this is the best version for most. True fans will want to seek out these and other pieces, as hopefully will anyone who likes this book, but these complaints are essentially nitpicking, because what is here is truly great and will be more than enough for general readers.

All told, this should be among the first handful of Twain books anyone buys, which is all that need be said.
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Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Mississippi River; Mississippi River Valley; Pilots and pilotage; Mississippi river; Mississippi valley; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

Great stories
This is a great collection of stories from a master. More of a journal than a finished work. The kindle version was fairly well done with a number of formatting errors, but nothing so bad to not make it worth the free price. Thanks for kindling this. I may not have read it otherwise.

Kudos to Amazon!
Kudos to Amazon for making "Life on the Mississippi" available for free for the Kindle and the iPhone Kindle application!Twain's book is a rambling affair, and in fact, its somewhat quirky form makes it read more like a present-day book than a product of its time.Twain's style is engaging.This might be clearest in the historical sections, where, if you think that all historical narratives are dry and academic, "Life on the Mississippi" will prove you wrong.As many other reviewers note, this is an entirely different view of Mark Twain's work than the novels that tend to find themselves relegated to study in the public schools, and in many ways both more informative and more fun.Thanks again to Amazon for making this and other important public domain books available for free download!

Much too long and unfocused
Had Twain stopped after the first section, in which he describes riverboat piloting and his exploits therein, I would have come away with a positive impression of the book. His piloting writings were entertaining and interesting, even though not particularly relevant in today's world.

However the later chapters ruin the book. Twain documents his return to the Mississippi with a plethora of miscellaneous descriptions and loosely related anecdotes. These sections range from only mildly entertaining to just plain boring, as Twain doesn't even use his humor to save them.

In the end the disappointment of the second half outweighs the enjoyment of the first half.

Take a careful look at the Publisher before you buy "Life on the Mississippi"
When you do the "Look Inside" thing, you'll read "This view is of the Mass Market Paperback edition (1983) from Bantam Classics. The Paperback edition (2010) from General Books LLC that you originally viewed is the one you'll receive if you click the Add to Cart button at left." And that's correct. The General Books LLC version is a completely different book. To wit....

General Books LLC puts together books using an OCR automated scanning device which can miss complete pages. There are many many Typos and no table of contents. There books receive NO EDITING of any kind, also, the OCR scanning is done by a robot (which the publishers website outright says can miss pages). This is all stated on the publishers web site (google them and read for yourself to get all the details). Almost every review of books published by General Books LLC (around 500,000 of them from one imprint or another now listed on Amazon) by buyers is negative, many are extremely so.

As the General Books LLC version has reviews of other publishers versions associated with it, you need to be very careful to make sure you've bought a decent version. If you have bought the version from General Books LLC by mistake, you can return to Amazon within 30 days(but check Amazon's Return Policy for the details).

Unique Twain Greatness
Mark Twain is synonymous worldwide with the Mississippi River, mainly because of the Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn stories. However, Life on the Mississippi is just as important and, in a testament to Twain's greatness, nearly as readable despite being non-fiction. It details his history with the river and gives an overview of the river itself; this may sound boring, and almost certainly would be with anyone else, but I long ago decided that even Twain's laundry list would be worth reading, and this certainly is. The magic he seemed to bring to everything is in full force; one would be very hard-pressed to find another non-fiction book that is so entertaining, besides Twain's others of course, but it is also awesomely informative. In addition, Life is historically notable as the first book written on a typewriter, not Huck as is commonly thought; however, it made Twain able to finish Huck, which he had struggled with for some years and set aside. Huck fans and scholars will want to read Life for this alone, but it is more than worthy in itself.

Twain starts by giving some basic facts and history; this is the least interesting part but only lasts a few pages, and I urge anyone bored by it to continue. Much of the information is of course dated but remains historically valuable as a portrait of the river as it then stood. Far more interesting is Twain's unforgettable rundown of his years as a riverboat pilot - a central life experience that led to much of his writing. We get a fascinating glimpse of this long-vanquished trade, which was all but unthinkable even when Life was published. It is important to recall that Twain was a pilot before such boats had steam or even lights at night. He details piloting's extraordinary difficulties with engrossing detail and typical self-deprecating humor. We learn much along the way about the riverboat lifestyle, the river itself, and riverside towns. Anyone curious about what it was like to live in this era and/or how its inhabitants thought and acted will find a wealth of information; we learn as much here as in any history book, and it is of course infinitely better written. Life covers a crucial American history era and is an important primary source even for those not interested in Twain and certainly essential for anyone who is, as it gives substantial background about a crucial part of his life. The book is indeed in part a bildungsroman; Twain had always loved the river and began pilot training soon after first leaving home. He structures the narrative so that it reads much like a story, and we see him grow from naïveté and ignorance to an admirable experience and wisdom.

Twain then details a trip he made on the river many years later, noting what changed and what stayed the same. There is significant autobiographical material here also, but the crux is descriptive. Twain describes the river's whole length and everything having to do with it as he goes, making it all utterly absorbing. As always, there are many eminently readable tangents. Several are autobiographical - reminisces as well as then recent events. Particularly interesting is Twain's profoundly touching visit to his hometown after a long absence. However, a good part of Life has nothing to do with the river directly but is at least as engrossing as what does. Twain's many asides are full of wit and insight; few have ever probed so deeply into life and humanity, and we are lucky to have his wisdom, much of which is hilarious. Especially engaging are observations on North/South differences, notably including the Civil War. Twain's sociopolitical criticism is also as brilliant as ever, taking on everything from architecture to Walter Raleigh to speech. Finally, Life would be valuable even if lacking all this because it passes on an invaluable treasure of American folklore.

Life is quite simply required reading for anyone even remotely interested in American literature; it is essential Twain, which makes it simply essential. As for this edition, it is essentially bare bones. Anyone wanting supplemental material will need to look elsewhere, but this will do well for most, as the text stands very well on its own.
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Product Description
Mark Twain's Burlesque Autobiography is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Mark Twain is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Mark Twain then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

I can get it for you free...
Sorry to do this to Amazon (and Samuel Clemen's estate), but you can read this free on Google Books. Why spend money on something when you don't have to? I don't think Mark Twain would mind - in fact, he'd probably find it amusing.

"Affordable & High Quality Paperback Book Edition"
The line that heads this review is also the subtitle of this publication.It too must be a burlesque. This item is described as 24 pages--12 of them are completely blank.One lists only 'Made in USA Lexington KY 18 August 2010' and the bar code.The title page does not include a publisher(probably out of shame) The remaining 10 pages are printed in something resembling typewriter script, a rambling list of notorious ancestors which I imagine could be typical of a spontaneous dinner party expostion by Mr. Clemens. There is no introductory or historical comment giving any information whatsoever as to the source of the text in this "High Quality Paperback."

The soul who pays $75 for the library bound edition must surely receive an wonderful example of the art of fine bookbinding--or they are really ripped off.

TWAIN AT HIS BEST
It seems strange to be reviewing an author almost a hundred years after his death, but this autobiography is something I did not realize was out there. After downloading Kindle for Mac, I downloaded a number of free books and began reading Twain. His wit and use of English is both enjoyable and inspiring, but one must read carefully. Slowly is even better. The wit is up to the high standard set in Puddin' Head Wilson ("I wish I owned half that dog. I'd shoot my half.), as is the self deprecation, and there is a world of biting social commentary in even the most innocent seeming line. ("He built a commodious jail and put up a gallows, and to his dying day he claimed he had a more restraining and elevating influence on the Indians that any other reformer...") I recommend this highly for other writers who like to read a master at work. One wonders what he might say about being politically correct. ... Read more

Product Description
The entire Mark Twain anthology with over 300 books and story collections. See the sample for the complete and navigable table of contents. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Twain in a nutshell
I use this edition a lot when I am writing my columns. It provides a quick reference to almost ever work that Mark Twain ever wrote. If I'm trying to figure out if a quote is really from Mark Twain or not, it provides a quick reference.

I think that it provides a great way to get Twain on your Kindle if you do not want to download each of the books individually. I picked up the free editions of some of the classics just to save having to go through the whole collection when I want to read in them.

This is a great compliment to the new Autobiography of Mark Twain vol 1.Autobiography of Mark Twain: The Complete and Authoritative Edition, Volume 1 as once you have read that you'll definitely want to catch up on Twain stories you might have missed.

Gene Bowker
Mark Twain Examiner

Table of Contents is easy to use if you know how.
Nice book!Well worth the cost.As to the Table of Contents, use the "Go To Cover" command, then page forward.The first pages after the cover are the Table of Contents.When the Kindle software opens this book it goes the the first of Mark Twain's works, past the Table of Contents.As I said just remember the "Go To Cover", then step forward.

Pages in Each Book
The price is a bargain.I did not have any issues with indexing or finding the Table of Contents (another review covered this).This is the first Kindle book with multiple stories that I purchased.I never gave it any thought before, but personally I like to know the length of a story before I start reading.On single books in Kindle you can see your percentage read, your location and the location number for the end of book location.With this particular compilation of books I have no idea how long a story is or where I am in that story.I do not know if other book compilations have the same issue or not, but for me this is a negative.

Easy to navigate, easy to read, amazingly complete content for the price
First I want to address some of the negative comments made by other reviews - comments that don't prove to be true in my experience.

1. Table of Contents - This edition, as advertised, does come with a fully functional interactive Table of Contents.The only problem - an extremely minor one that isn't uncommon with Kindle books - is that "Table of Contents" is grayed out on the Kindle's "Go To" menu.As I've discovered before, that doesn't mean there isn't an interactive Table of Contents.In this case, all you have to do to find it is Go to _Cover_, press "Next Page" just once and the Table of Contents appears - on the second screen in the book.Once I found it, I bookmarked it for future use.Cursoring through the Table of Contents using the 5-way control produced the small "pointing finger" icon and once the finger is pointing at the desired article, pressing down on the 5-way immediately takes me right to the very article.The T of C is lengthy, but it's text searchable.

2. The Font - No way is the font Courier, which is a monospace font.In fact, it's the very same proportionally spaced font used for the vast majority of books I've read on Kindle to date (over 200).It's the font that the Oxford American Dictionary native to the Kindle 2 uses.I find that font to be perfectly pleasant to read and I can't imagine why anyone would object to it.

3. Extra White Space Between Paragraphs - Yes, there seems to be one extra line of white space between paragraphs.It's nothing I haven't seen before reading books on the Kindle.At worst, it means that, in the course of reading a book, I might have to press the "Next Page" button more times than if there were only one line of white space between paragraphs.So far, my button-pushing finger doesn't seem to be damaged on account of it.In fact, I simply think it's a typesetting consideration.Some books indent paragraphs, some don't.When indented, some books indent the first line more than others.Some books skip a single line between paragraphs, some skip two lines.So what?It doesn't interfere with reading in the least bit.

4. Searching the Text - At first, when I tried to search for a given text string, I received that error message saying that the book was not yet indexed and to try later.I've run into that before with a book on Kindle when I've opened it for the first time.But, after reading a while, after turning the pages a number of times, that problem cleared up with this book - as it has with other books in the past.I think that, with some books, the Kindle isn't immediately synchronized to the searchable text, but at some point, synchronization occurs and, once it does, there are no further problems.So, read for a bit, and you'll find everything is copacetic when it comes to searching the text.

5. Omissions of Certain Twain Works - Perhaps some things are missing.Me, I haven't noticed any.What I have noticed is that this book offers just about everything Samuel Clemens wrote as Mark Twain, all his novels, short stories, essays, magazine articles and personal correspondence.If anything is missing, I don't think it's very much and for $2.99, it's an amazing bargain, considering that it is fully functional and not hard to read.

My one complaint is that there are typographical errors of the sort that occur when a print edition is optically scanned to electronic format.The percentage of those errors is small and, again, for $2.99, I'm willing to overlook those errors.It's generally not too hard to figure out what the correct word should be - "the" instead of "he," for example, or "shoe" instead of "shot."That's the sort of random spelling error I've noticed in this publication.Considering that there are thousands of pages of Mark Twain in this volume for all of $2.99, however, I'm inclined not to complain about the occasional typographical error.

In sum, the book's an incredible bargain, and it's very functional with its interactive Table of Contents, very readable with a perfectly decent font, serviceably formatted as to paragraphs, fully searchable as to text, very complete as to content, and amazingly well priced at $2.99.

Impossible to navigate
I don't have a Kindle - I have the Kindle app for my iPhone and for my tablet PC.The "Active Table of Contents" promised in the title plain DOES NOT EXIST, at least when using these apps.Perhaps there is some contents links that show up on an actual Kindle device but there is no evidence of them otherwise.

Without an active TOC, it is completely impossible to use this collection.There are some 10,000 or so screens of information (146,000+ Kindle "Locations") and since there are no headers or footers to tell you what story you're on, it's nearly impossible to locate one particular story.The iPhone app allows text search but it took the search tool nearly 1/2 hour to find a title, just not practical.

After reading some of the reviews - some which said the TOC was active, others said it wasn't - I figured $2.99 wasn't much of a risk.So, now I can tell those who are looking at this - if you are using a Kindle APP on an iPhone or PC (or presumably iPad or Mac), there IS NO WAY to navigate this collection.If you have a Kindle, I don't know if it works or not. ... Read more

Product Description
The Stolen White Elephant is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Mark Twain is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Mark Twain then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Missing bits, but still appreciable
This is not a well done copy of The Stolen White Elephant. As other reviewers have noted, bits are missing throughout the story. Mostly newspaper clippings are missing, but frequently the article bits that do make it in have their formatting a bit butchered. The story is still very good and worth reading in this format, just know that if you really love it here then it is worth rereading in a printing that has the whole thing.

Not worth buyingfree
There seems to be problems with transcribing some parts of books such as this. Throughout, the major turning points of the stories, which are quotes from either letters or newspaper articles, are completely missing. I am guessing that the missing sections appear in italics or some variant form.
This not the only book in which I have seen this -- makes the entire thing useless. The whole development of the story involves newspaper ads -- all of which are missing.

Twain got me
I have to admit, this story really captivated my attention. There was a lot of chaos and "secrecy" going on but in the end, he got me.

Murder
Mark Twain gave advice to a young man who wanted to be a writer: "When you catch an adjective, ill it. No, I don't mean that utterly, but kill the most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together, they give strength whenthe are wide apart. An adjective-habit, or a wordy, diffuse, or flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."

Mark Twain at his best
"The Stolen White Elephant" is a broad farce mocking the self-proclaimed omniscience of many fictional detectives, told entirely in the form of a series of ridiculous telegraphs. Revolving around the theft of a literal white elephant, the gift of the King of Siam, this manifestly absurd story is nevertheless modeled after the real life efforts of a blundering New York Police Department to recover the corpse of one Alexander T. Stewart, stolen from his family vault in 1878. ... Read more

Product Description
It was from his experience on the Mississippi that Samuel Clemens took his nom de plume — Mark Twain, the call used by riverboat pilots when taking soundings of the river. The nom de plume was especially appropriate for Clemens, reflecting both his love of the Mississippi and his wry sense of humor. This Library of Literary Classics edition contains his best works including: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.
This deluxe edition is bound in padded leather with luxurious gold-stamping on the front and spine, satin ribbon marker and gilded edges. Other titles in this series include: Charlotte & Emily Bronte: The Complete Novels; Edgar Allan Poe: Selected Works; William Shakespeare: The Complete Works; Charles Dickens: Four Complete Novels;Lewis Carroll: The Complete, Fully Illustrated Works; and Jane Austen: The Complete Novels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Better than nothing, but . . .
I was fairly disappointed with this offering.The 'active' table of contents more often than not takes you to a blank page, at which point you're on your own.("Should I go forward a page?Back a page?")The stories themselves, though, exhibit no more than the typical number of errors you would expect from a scanned and converted document.If you have to have Mark Twain on your Kindle, for $.99 this certainly delivers. . . but there are more appealing packages out there.

Everything is Here...Definitely Complete
I'm not sure why that one person had a problem finding the Jumping Frog story in a previous review. Everything is here, literally everything. All you need to do to find it all on your Kindle is hit Menu, then "Go to..." and then scroll down to the table of contents button. There's a ton here, so you need to page over to the right to find more stories, which is where "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" appears. There's no reason anyone should have rated this a "one star." I'm flabergasted at all the stories that appear here, and I had no idea Twain was as prolific as he was. Very impressed with this collection, and I recommend it to all!!

Celebrated Frog is in my version
I just downloaded the book to my Kindle, and the Celebrated Jumping Frog story is there. It is a little hard to navigate to, but if you go to the contents of the short stories, click on the Celebrated Jumping Frog, and then hit previous page you will be at the title. All in all this is a great buy.

The Works of Mark Twain and what was missing
I bought this book for one reason only. To read: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country" guess which is the only book short story which in not in this collection. The very one I bought the book for in the first place. I am furious.

I bought the kindle version. I will not ever trust the person who is selling this book on Amazon. He should have checked first to make sure each book/short story was in fact included before he listed what the table of contents is.

gailann

Wonderful Collection
This is a wonderful book, all the classic stories in a beautiful leather book. Explore the world with Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, enjoy the short stories that Mark Twain wrote, by yourself or share them with your children. I know that I will enjoy it for many generations to come. ... Read more

Product Description
Behind the humor of these pieces, readers will see Twain's serious thoughts on the relationship between God and Man, biblical inconsistencies, Darwinism, science, and the impact of technology on religious beliefs. "A fascinating panoply of wit, satire, farce, fantasy, lyricism, heresy, the sardonic, and the controversial."--Patricia Hassler, Booklist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

The quintessential Twain on religion.
This book is a long needed source for the views that Mark Twain held on religion.It would be best though if you read his 'Letters From the Earth' book before reading this one.You will get the full dose of 'Twain' humor before you delve into his insights and background work for those stories.'Letters From the Earth' was also published long after Twain's death, around 1962.This book contains a large amount of 'new' material from the Twain Project library at the Univ of Cal Berkeley, and really is a must have book.You will not be disappointed at all, surprised occasionally, but never disappointed.

Great American Read...!
Truth and Humor equals no more Misdirection, and so we have a Fuller, Much Better Quality of of this time called Life...!

One window into Twain's religion.
I've read in full only a few things by Twain, including some remarks of his ridiculing Mary Baker Eddy and her "Christian Science," his essay defending the quality of President Grant's memoirs against an unfavorable British review, and some of his other essays. Complete irreligion was still relatively rare in Twain's day, and his essay on "Saint Joan of Arc" (see another work available on Amazon, his complete essays republished recently in paperback) suggests that he had the good sense to appreciate the Saints, if not the spiritual healers. In fact he would probably have qualified well as an ethical humanist, but also as a closet mystic of idiosyncratic bent (a careful reading of Felix Adler's "Life and Destiny" would reveal that the founder of the Ethical Culture movement was also a mystic, his mysticism was merely not placed by him on the front cover of his appeals to humanity). Twain presumably belonged to no organized church, and these essays of his on the Biible should probably be compared to the critical (or even condemnatory) writings of Tom Paine on the Bible and Christianity ("The Age of Reason" if I recall the title correctly). But Twain's rave about Saint Joan, derived from his personal reading of the transcripts of her ecclesiastical trial for witchcraft and heresy, blew away any thoughts of mine that he might be regarded as a mere atheist or irreligious fanatic.

Where credit's due!
Let's give credit where credit's due.Mark Twain would give it to Robert Green Ingersoll, America's great agnostic.Read Colonel Bob's many lectures and you'll see what I mean.

More textbook, then "light reading"
This "compilation" is more for a STUDENT of MT, then for someone casually reading his finer, posthumously-published works. If you are in a college literature class, then this is probably a textbook in it. If not, it's probably TOO "academic" to be digested in one sitting. ... Read more

Product Description

"You had better shove this in the stove," Mark Twain said at the top of an 1865 letter to his brother, "for I don't want any absurd ‘literary remains' and ‘unpublished letters of Mark Twain' published after I am planted." He was joking, of course. But when Mark Twain died in 1910, he left behind the largest collection of personal papers created by any nineteenth-century American author. Who Is Mark Twain? presents twenty-six wickedly funny, disarmingly relevant pieces by the American master—a man who was well ahead of his time.

Customer Reviews (13)

Double the Folly
According to Mark Twain, only a dead man has the privilege of free speech. The living must suppress their opinions or suffer "the bitter cost of putting [them] forth." With the publication of //Who Is Mark Twain?//, a hundred years after his death, general readers have access for the first time to articles, fables, and sketches the American master suppressed during his lifetime.

Twain renders with hilarity and inventiveness his surprisingly modern views on the U.S. Congress ("Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself"); on dentists ("He was gray and venerable. . . but he had the calm, possessed, surgical look of a man who could endure pain in another person"); on undertakers ("'There was ever so much sickness, and very few got well. I remember father's saying he had never seen business so brisk.' Mr. Cadaver drew a long sigh. . . `Those were great days--great days.'"). He also shrewdly observes human contraptions as various as Swiss music boxes, American cigars, and missionaries in China, never excluding himself from the fun: "We also discussed ourselves and our points of resemblance to other kinds of fools."

Reviewed by Zara Raab

Who IS Mark Twain????
The title offers little assistance or guidance for the potential reader to fall back on....it was a reading club assignment and so I bought. Essays culled from the Twain archives but they seem to offer little new to the corpus of already available Twain writings.Certainly the editors of this slender item had something in mind: there is a lengthy introduction.However, it begs the question of why does the world need another printed work of Twain's vast writings? Be wary of this one, unless you are a confirmed Twain-a-holic.

Who is Mark Twain
Who is Mark Twain? is the most recent publication about this famous writer and humorist. I am a great fan of Mark Twain and thoroughly enjoyed the writings and rewritings of his insatiable humor. A great book for both students and those who enjoy the author.

From the large box of Posthumous Stuff
"(I did) a grist of writing here this summer, but not for publication soon - if ever. I did write two satisfactory articles for early print, but I burnt one of them & have buried the other one in my large box of Posthumous Stuff. I've got stacks of Literary Remains piled up there." - Mark Twain, in a 1901 letter to a friend

I recently read We'll Always Have Paris: Stories by Ray Bradbury, a collection of his previously unpublished stories that suggests that such works by famous authors were heretofore unpublished for a reason and are perhaps best left unattended in the face of any subsequent urge to wrest more revenue from the fan base. WHO IS MARK TWAIN? is evidence to the contrary.

I imagine it's difficult for all inclusions in an anthology, whether by one author or several, to be universally pleasing to any one reader. At least, I've never come across such a book. Here, the author's twenty-four "literary remains" run the gamut from one star to, say, four and a half. To my mind, the former includes "Professor Mahaffy on Equality" and "I Rise to the Question of Privilege" - all of which verge on turgidity. Happily, the 1, 2 and 3-star contributions are more than balanced by writings that serve to remind the Samuel Clemens fan of the humor and perspicacity which so characterizes his more well-known works.

In "Happy Memories of the Dental Chair", Twain sees the humor in his own precarious situation. Who among us could not relate?

In "On Postage Rates on Authors' Manuscripts", the author takes aim at ridiculous government regulatory policies - always easy game because they're so widespread.

"A Group of Servants" reveals that even Twain's domestic life provided fodder for his humorous pen.

In "Interviewing the Interviewer", Mark takes a wickedly irreverent stab at his own profession, an endearing exercise for any professional.

"The Grand Prix" illustrates Twain's powers of observation as a foreign correspondent.

Finally, there are two chapters, "Jane Austen" and "The Snow-Shovelers", which appeal to my personal idiosyncrasies.

I have a couple of female friends who've put Jane Austen up on a pedestal. Now mind you, I've been known to thoroughly enjoy several screen adaptations of that author's novels. However, I've never been tempted to read one. So, when Twain records the following, my contrary self is appreciative:

"(Austen) makes me detest all her people, without reserve. Is that her intention? It is not believable. Then is it her purpose to make the reader detest her people up to the middle of the book and like them in the rest of the chapters? That could be. That would be high art. It would be worth while, too. Some day I will examine the other end of her books and see."

Then, in "The Snow-Shovelers", Twain shows his marvelous talent for reproducing in text what he perceives as the heavy Black dialect of the time (1886), in this case as spoken by two snow-shovelers, Aleck and Hank. Were any contemporary, popular author to write such, I imagine the Reverends Jessie and Al would howl to any and all media representatives who'd listen claiming such was racial stereotyping on the part of the author. Since I'm of a certain age that predates the absurdities of today's political correctness, I find that prospect deliciously amusing.

I have, of course, read Twain's best sellers, and have immensely enjoyed Hal Holbrook's Mark Twain Tonight. WHO IS MARK TWAIN? is a worthy supplement to the great man's legacy.

Rifling Twain's Waste Basket
If you find yourself with a copy of "Who Is Mark Twain?", do yourself a favor and skip immediately to "The Undertaker's Tale" in the middle of the book. If you start from the beginning, chances are good you will lose interest long before you reach this hilarious Dickens send-up.

It's a tough slog even if you are a Twain fan. I'm not particularly, but I like some of his work a lot and admire his style. It bears stating up front that "Who Is Mark Twain?" is a book he had no input in, published in 2009 by the Mark Twain Foundation and drawing from pieces he left unpublished and often unfinished. If it works for Tupac, the foundation must have thought...

We get a loyalty test early with a 1895 draft for a speech he never gave, a rambling address in which Twain whines about his tax problems, talks up famous people he knows, and finishes by asking the audience to rise in respect for the long-dead General Ulysses Grant. Twain even raises the question that makes for the book's title, though he doesn't answer it except to quote a friend saying: "God knows - I don't." Gee, thanks for the insight, Sam!

There's a fair bit of Twain in Germany, buying a music box and struggling with domestic servants for stretched attempts at comedy. He holds a conversation with the Devil that devolves into talk of German stoves and cigars, ridicules a friend's professed religious sensibilities in light of his enthusiasm for fishing, and tells a sad story about a loyal dog that left me unmoved (and I have a weakness for sad stories about dogs Stephen Crane pinged me on once.) Twain confesses to feeling like a bartender at the gates of Paradise when reading Jane Austen, though that promising start fizzles into a bitty breakdown of which characters of hers he dislikes most.

You feel time and again Twain casting about on paper for a theme, an idea, a hook, and it's painful because the end result is something he never saw fit to publish.

So when you get to "The Undertaker's Tale", what would seem an enjoyable lark delivers instead like a Slurpie in the Sahara. The Oliver Twist-like protagonist finds himself taken in by a loving family of undertakers. Only there's a problem: Death has taken a holiday, and they have a big loan to pay. "Coffins rotting away without sale, a graveyard that's becoming a grazing ground, a gang of convalescents that the lightning couldn't make marketable!" The joke is carried wonderfully all the way to its satisfying O. Henry-ish end.

Two other pieces here approach "Tale" for enjoyability. "Happy Memories Of The Dental Chair" scrapes a rich vein for humor later jabbed by everyone from Bob Hope to "Marathon Man", though it stops abruptly. "The Grand Prix" is Twain in a rare, genuinely appreciative mood, describing a day spent at an outdoor event in Paris that comes off rather well.

An introduction by Twain scholar Robert Hirst makes a strained case for the pieces' importance, noting they represent a kind of tour of Twain's workshop. That's a valid point, if one that also speaks to the limited nature of this book's literary value and appeal. ... Read more

Product Description

Arranged alphabetically by topic, from Adam to Youth, and culled from his novels, speeches, letters, and conversations, this anthology of quotes is timeless and represents the very essence of Mark Twain -- hilarious, cranky, and insightful.

Customer Reviews (27)

Redundancy makes the book weaker than it could have been
Yes, there are many nice quotes in the book, but this review is about the book itself.I have perhaps 15% of the book remaining to read (in the Kindle edition) and have lost count of the number of quotes that appear two or three times at different places in the book, each time introduced as if the reader had not seen it previously -- sometimes as the same standalone quote, sometimes repeated within a larger anecdote, sometimes slightly modified.It is as if the author didn't think Twain had said enough to fill a book without being redundant. Reading what Twain had to say about reports of his death, or other authors, or creative insults, or perspectives on religion, or the character of Congress is a lot of fun.Reading the same quotes about those subjects, and more, over an over again is not as fun.Also, there are various passages that are unattributed anecdotes about Mark Twain that seem out of place without some missing explanation -- their punchlines are what someone else said about Twain or what someone else said about something else entirely while in Twain's presence, but the source of the information is a bit of mystery and, of course, is not actually Twain's wit or wisdom.They are sometimes nice anecdotes but they hang oddly in the text without the author explaining how the thing is known or why it relates to the subject at hand -- it is as if the real subject is something like "clever things Mark Twain and others around him sometimes said."Finally, in the Kindle edition at least, there are various places where one cannot tell whether a sentence is part of the author's narrative or a quotation from Twain himself, which again adds to the sense of the book having not been adequately prepared prior to publication.

Organized very well
This book is set up in an easy-to-read style.I enjoyed how the quotes are separated by subject, and then these subjects arranged alphabetically.This organization makes it easy to find that perfect quote!

Of course, since this is a book of Mark Twain quotes, the content is humorous, appropriate (and inappropriate), and filled with his unique perspective.A perfect gift for new Twain enthusiasts.

Buyer Beware!
Bought what I thought was a used hardback version of this book. But, apparently there are several DIFFERENT books with this same title. The book I bought is
about 2" X 3" in dimension and has 80 pages. So, if you go to a used version of this book on Amazon check the description carefully.

The book I bought does have Mark Twain quotations. About 80 quotes. One quote (usually just a sentence or two) per page (sometimes one quote spans two pages). So, it is a book with about 80-100 sentences in it. List price on the flap is $4.95. Just thought you might want to know. I guess I can't really fault the used merchant or Amazon, because the description was clearly available.

Good service
Love Mark Twain, have been a fan of his for 55 years. am very glad that I have the opportunity to collect his works.My favourite Innocents Abroad - priceless.
Books arrived promptly, safely and the price very reasonable.
Thank you for your service.

Nice reference on Mark Twain
A nice, little reference booklet on the musings of an American icon.I enjoyed reading it in one sitting and I keep it handy to refer to. ... Read more

Product Description
Irreverent, charming, eminently quotable, this handbook-an eccentric etiquette guide for the human race-contains sixty-nine aphorisms, anecdotes, whimsical suggestions, maxims, and cautionary tales from Mark Twain's private and published writings. It dispenses advice and reflections on family life and public manners; opinions on topics such as dress, health, food, and childrearing and safety; and more specialized tips, such as those for dealing with annoying salesmen and burglars. Culled from Twain's personal letters, autobiographical writings, speeches, novels, and sketches, these pieces are delightfully fresh, witty, startlingly relevant, and bursting with Twain's characteristic ebullience for life. They also remind us exactly how Mark Twain came to be the most distinctive and well-known American literary voice in the world. These texts, some of them new or out of print for decades, have been selected and meticulously prepared by the editors at the Mark Twain Project.Illustrations: 36 b/w photographs ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Helpful hints, but not a complete picture
"Helpful Hints for Good Living" is a compendium of excerpts from Mark Twain's own letters, articles, and auto biography that seek to help define who this man was.It is a biography of sorts, using the man's own words to help explain his genius. Unfortunately, the excerpts are often too short or scattered for the reader to make much of a picture of the man beyond a caricature.

This book is meant to be read in short bursts, perhaps left on a coffee table or restroom window - where it will serve what seems to be part of its purpose, to make the reader appear learned and to show an already adopted adoration for Mr. Samuel Langhorne Clemens.

The bright points of the book are Twain's own witticisms and quips, that have been generally well selected in this anthology.

If you love to read Mark Twain quotes and want to see them in a little more context, this book is for you.If you're just learning about the man and his letters, then I would suggest you find a different collection.

Somewhere Between Emily Post and Amy Sedaris
Mark Twain weighs in on everything, even the social graces.His critique of "American versus European Food" makes Martha Stewart sound like Alice Kramden.(It will also make your mouth water.)Not sure what to do in case of emergency?Twain covers everything from apparitions to earthquakes.These helpful hints will improve your parenting skills, raise your I.Q. score, and prepare you for a career in foreign diplomacy.

Clever humor from our past
First, it's Mark Twain - the very pseudonym a poke in the ribs - and it's full of essays on his views of life, letters to editors, milkmen and burglars. He never pokes fun at his family, much, but sees the world as a tiresome place in which to try to exist, and his fellowman as more tiresome still. It's a glimpse at a time gone by, when a note on the front door telling any future robbers that the previous pair have already taken the silverware but they're welcome to the two candlesticks in the parlor might have even made sense since the doors weren't locked.

Mark Twain Sampler
I really enjoyed the assortment of stories and quotes in this book.It gives you a flavor of Mark Twains writing beyon Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer that many of us have read.

Mark Twain has a great depth and is humor.This book will give you a flavor of his writting and perhaps make you want to read more of his writing.

Yes, Yes! and Yes !

If you are a blue-blooded "Twain-ist", or if you are a Pragmatist to the Nth, or even simply a light-hearted person who can laugh at the Human Race..."Mark Twain's Helpful Hints for Good Living" will not only entertain you from cover to cover but also provide ample material (albeit of debatable propriety) for the management of your daily Life. Two Thumbs Up ! ... Read more

Product Description
This Kindle book includes 8 novels: The Gilded Are, Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, Huckleberry finn, a Connecticut Yankee in King Arhtur's Court, The American Claimant, Pudd'nhead Wilson, and Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc;5 book-length collections of stories: The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories, Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories, The Curious Republic of gondour and other Whimsical Sketches, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories, and A Mysterious Stranger; 11 individual stories: 1601, Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heave, The Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut, A Dog's Tale, A Double Barreled Detective, Extracts from Adam's Diary, Godsmith's Friend Abroad Again, A Horse's Tale, Those Extraordinary Twins, Tom Sawyer Abroad, and Tom Sawyer Detective; 6 travel books and memoirs: Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, Life on the Mississippi, A Tramp Abroad, Following the Equator, Chapters from My Autobiography; a book of Mark Twain's speeches, plus 3 book-length collections of essays: What is Man? Sketches New and Old, and Christian Science. It also includes the following short collections and individual essays: Editorial Wild Oats, Essays on Paul Bourget, Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences, and In Defence of Harriet Shelley. According to Wikipedia: "Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel,[2] and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is also known for his quotations.[3][4] During his lifetime, Twain became a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists and European royalty. Twain enjoyed immense public popularity, and his keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. American author William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature."
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

This is a good book!
Ok, if you are only about to get this because you like mark twain, this is your book. if yiu arre getting this jsut because you like highlighting...good luck to you. if you need to read mark twain for school,this is DEFINETLY your book. if you like mark twainthis is your book becaus it acctually does include a lot of this man's wonderful writing! HAPPY READING!

Wonderful writing
I have no idea what the previous reviewer means by "...the cursor is uncontrollable!" The cursor works just as well in this book as it does in every other Kindle book I've read. I love how Twain writes, so I can do nothing but rave about how wonderful it is to have so much of his work in one book.

GOOD TO READ, IMPOSSIBLE TO ANNOTATE.
If you just wnt to read Twain, this is a treasure trove. Ifyou highlight or annotate compulsivey, you are out of luck - the cursor is uncontrollable! ... Read more

Product Description
The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Mark Twain is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Mark Twain then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Comic short story by Twain
This is a short first-person comic story in which the narrator (presumably, Twain himself) details how he found his conscience and what he did to it when he found it.

It's an amusing little satire of societal mores, and a pretty good example of Twain's writing, too; not the best thing he ever wrote, but entertaining enough and worth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Mark Twain is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Mark Twain then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
Extracts from Adam's Diary, translated from the original ms. is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Mark Twain is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Mark Twain then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Hilarious, Mark Twain at his irreverent best
I love Mark Twain's take on religious stories.This diary of Adam tells Adam's feelings about all the things happening to him as the first man on the earth, particularly how he meets Eve and his troubles with her.

It is short, and if you only have a short time to read something, this might be for you.Funny.No, it's hilarious.It has the stamp of Mark Twain's humor all over it.And then you'll probably want to read it again sometime when you have another brief encounter with free time.

A fun take on the creation story
Extract from Adam's Diary is one of two diaries that Twain made in different short stories. They are often paired together, but not in this edition.

That being said, "Extracts.." is a funny, short, irreverant read. It's less of a commentary on God and the story of creation and more the story about the foibles of men and women. ... Read more

Product Description
Goldsmith's Friend Abroad Again is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Mark Twain is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Mark Twain then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / General; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Literary; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Mark Twain was better when I was a child
I hadn't read anything by Mark Twain in years, so thought this little story would be fun to put on my new Kindle II.He's just not funny anymore, and his language is not acceptable... I can't imagine why I thought his stories were funny.

Not Twain's best work, but not his worst
This is Twain's satire of contemporary religious mores. It was the last fiction he published in his lifetime, and like much of his later work, it's slightly cynical and very sarcastic, although more upbeat than, for example, _Letters from the Earth_ -- mankind comes across as looking fairly silly overall, but on the whole positive.

Probably of most interest to Twain fans who want to read everything of his that they can, or to scholars writing on Twain's religious views, more than to casual Twain readers. It's mildly amusing throughout, but no more than that, and Twain certainly wrote many other works that were more entertaining and more insightful.

It's a fairly short read, at 630 kindle "locations". ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / General; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Short nonfiction travelogue by Twain
This is exactly what it claims to be -- a collection of anecdotes Twain wrote down during a trip to Bermuda. A classic bit of Twain's non-fiction, it's also of some interest as a chronicle of what Bermuda was like in Twain's day.

If you like this kind of thing, you might want to also try _Three Men in a Boat_ (for comic 19th century travelogues), _Two Years Before the Mast_ (for an interesting picture of pre-gold-rush California) or "American Notes" by Charles Dickens (for nonfiction travelogues by great 18th-century writers).

Story of a trip by Mark Twain to Bermuda - starts fairly weak and ends strong
The title of this essay has it right - these are just a series of stories about a trip that Twain and some friends took to Bermuda from New York City. Twain wrote this for "The Atlantic" in 1877 and his wry style makes him an excellent travel companion.

In reality, Twain's story of the trip is the story of the people he meets along the way. Most of the stories are humorous, some are duds and about an equal number are quite funny. I won't forget the story about the town with the cat situation for quite a while.

Twain on Bermuda:

"We never met a man, or woman, or child anywhere in this sunny island who seemed to be unprosperous, or discontented, or sorry about anything. This sort of monotony became very tiresome presently, and even something worse. The spectacle of an entire nation groveling in contentment is an infuriating thing."

Twain on modern communication:

"The Bermudians are hoping soon to have telegraphic communication with the world. But even after they shall have acquired this curse it will still be a good country to go to for a vacation, for there are charming little islets scattered about the inclosed sea where one could live secure from interruption. The telegraph-boy would have to come in a boat, and one could easily kill him while he was making his landing."

Can you imagine what he'd say about cell phones, text messages and Twitter? ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Sawyer, Tom (Fictitious character)/ Fiction; Mystery fiction; Sawyer, Tom (Fictitious character); Juvenile Fiction / Classics; Juvenile Fiction / Action ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

we enjoyed it
Most people are familiar with Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but did you know that there were a couple of other sequels?One was Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894), and the other is this short novel in which Tom Sawyer attempts to solve a mysterious murder, as narrated by Huck Finn.It is a satire of the immensely popular detective novels of the time.
Tom's Uncle Silas, a preacher in Arkansas, is doing poorly because a rich neighbor, Brace Dunlap, wants to marry Tom's cousin Benny, and she said no, so Brace is trying to stir up trouble for Silas, who hires Brace's no account brother Jubiter to work for him in an attempt to smooth things out, although Silas and Jubiter are constantly arguing.Aunt Polly sends Tom and Huck on a steamboat down the Mississippi to help cheer Silas and his family up.On the boat, they meet Jake Dunlap, Jubiter's long lost twin brother who had become a criminal and was assumed to have been killed many years before.He and two other men have robbed a diamond store in St. Louis, and he has sneaked off with the diamonds, but the other two men followed him on to the boat, so he is now trying to escape them.His plan is to go home to his brothers and pretend to be a deaf-mute.
On the day Tom and Huck arrive, Jubiter Dunlap disappears.He later turns up dead, Uncle Silas is accused of killing him, and there is a trial.Will Tom be able to save his uncle from hanging?We did this as a family read aloud, and everyone enjoyed it.In the "Dover Evergreen Classics" edition, the word "nig*er" is replaced by "Negro."I had to do a little further editing because of some common euphemisms and a few instances of taking the Lord's name in vain.There are also several references to tobacco and smoking.Otherwise, this is a fun book.In 1938, the story was made into a movie directed by Louis King, with Billy Cook as Tom and Donald O'Connor as Huckleberry Finn.

Minor Twain but Quite Good
Mark Twain's 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its 1884 follow-up The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are two of American literature's most famous works and the latter one of its most acclaimed. It may thus seem strange that this 1896 sequel - like Tom Sawyer Abroad, its 1894 predecessor - is now almost obscure. The truth is that this is not entirely undeserved. Huck Finn is a masterpiece of world literature, and anyone expecting this to be anywhere near its level will be sorely disappointed. It lacks the more famous work's seriousness and ambitiousness, making it inevitably minor. However, it is quite interesting on its own minor terms; this means it is not great literature or even pretending to be. However, like nearly everything else Twain wrote, it is eminently readable, very entertaining, and sometimes funny. Fans of Twain's lighter work will love it, and there is something for all to appreciate it. The book is notable for taking the series and its characters in surprising new directions, bringing in some rather dark events and making Tom an unlikely detective hero. Though not a great literary work in other respects, it performs surprisingly well in the latter area. Those eager for more adventures from Tom, Huck, and Jim will certainly warm to it. Like the book that bears his name, this is narrated by Huck with all his delightfully provincial grammar and spelling; "prostitution" for "prosecution" in the court scene is my laugh aloud favorite. His naïveté and ignorance also come into play in skillfully unprecedented ways.

Like most of Twain, this book can be read and enjoyed on several levels. Most simply and obviously, it is a rollicking, picaresque adventure of the sort later classed as Young Adult or Juvenile. It is notably entertaining and quite humorous even in this limited sense. While far from politically correct by current standards, it can easily be enjoyed by the very young as well as those of all ages who will take it on its own terms. In this sense it is very much like Tom Sawyer Abroad and, indeed, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, not least in returning to the latter's rural South.

It also differs significantly from Tom Sawyer Abroad in obvious ways. First and most clearly, as the title shows, it is a detective story of the kind then wildly popular; this was after all when Sherlock Holmes was a sensation. Those who, like me, love such stories can appreciate it simply on this level. It is set up like a typical one with a murder mystery and has exciting elements such as a false confession, a dramatic courtroom scene, a climactic discovery, etc. - and, of course, eventual justice. Seeing all this play out is exciting, and Twain milks it for all it is worth. Unlike most of his works, this is filled with literary devices conventionally used for entertainment value, especially in modern popular fiction:foreshadowing, suspense, dramatic irony, etc. The revelation and ending are in particular highly wrought. Anyone who likes blazing stories of this sort, particularly detective ones, will enjoy and appreciate this and find the book well worth reading for it alone.

The discerning can see more, even if no one can see greatness. Though less savagely biting than later work, this is vintage Twain satire in many ways. Detective fiction itself is the target, but Twain's burlesque is gentle; we feel he lightly pokes fun at something he himself enjoys - not least because his satire could be far more bitter. He has some fun at the expense of the genre's conventions, using them in slightly exaggerated fashion to show how superficial they can sometimes be. What may seem exaggeration if read straight comes into play here:melodrama, implausibility, clichés, etc. This is where Huck's naïveté and ignorance are important. Many, perhaps even most, readers will be able to deduce some - or even all - of the ostensibly revelatory events, turning what would normally be suspense into dramatic irony. Those who miss the satire may think of these as defects, but those who see what Twain is doing will know they are intentional knocks at a) provincial Southern ignorance, and b) detective fiction conventions. Even simply moving from popular detective settings - i.e., Victorian England - to Twain's rural South makes the genre seem slightly ridiculous. However, that the book itself it can still be enjoyable with shows that the genre can as well. Indeed, Twain's satire is so subtle that many, perhaps especially detective fiction fans, will not even notice it - with whatever ambiguous result. As for those who dislike the genre, they may well like the book significantly more - indeed, may think it a riot. Twain at any rate did not cut off his satirical take on the genre here, returning several years later with the novella "A Double-Barreled Detective Story," which drops Tom and Huck but actually has Holmes(!) and is significantly more biting.

Tom Sawyer, Detective is thus quite a strange book - a light-hearted satire that most will not get and that many will likely enjoy for the very reasons Twain tries to mock. Its canonical status depends on how well one thinks he succeeds here. No one could put it with his great work. It is quite short - about one hundred pages - and can be read quickly and easily. That said, it will certainly delight fans of the associated stories and characters. The story itself is better than Tom Sawyer Abroad, arguably even better than The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; it has more plot than either, and characterization is strong. Conversely, there is significantly less humor, especially in the dialogue, except for those unusually alive to the satire. All told, it is a worthy edition to the series and to Twain generally even if only hard-core fans, especially those who treasure the associated works, should read it in the end. He hardly wrote anything not worth reading, but this should be one of the last stops. It is a pleasant read even if the fact that it has survived more than a century has more to do with Twain's name and his better works than inherent quality. This is surprisingly enjoyable proof that he was ever-readable even when far from this best.

Interesting
I like this book, it's very interesting. I don't usually like to read but I enjoyed this book because it was interesting. It kept you guessing at what was going to happen next, and I liked the way some of the words were spelled; it showed how they pronounced the words. If you like suspense, then I would recommend this book.

Awsome and It diserves to be read again dood
It was just so awsome and my imagination is still bogiling from the solving of the mysteries like Jake Dunlap stealing the diamonds. ... Read more