This Excellent Collection brings together Mark Twain’s longer, major books and a fine selection of shorter pieces and Science-Fiction Books. This Books created and collected in Mark Twain’s Most important Works illuminate the life and work of one of the most individual writers of the XX century – a man who elevated political writing to an art.Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name ‘Mark Twain’, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was lauded as the ‘greatest humorist the United States has produced, ‘ and William Faulkner called him ‘the father of American literature’. His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), the latter often called ‘The Great American Novel’.Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He served an apprenticeship with a printer and then worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada. He referred humorously to his lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise.[5] His humorous story, ‘The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County’, was published in 1865, based on a story that he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, where he had spent some time as a miner. The short story brought international attention and was even translated into French.[6] His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.Twain earned a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, but he invested in ventures that lost most of it—such as the Paige Compositor, a mechanical typesetter that failed because of its complexity and imprecision. He filed for bankruptcy in the wake of these financial setbacks, but in time overcame his financial troubles with the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers. He eventually paid all his creditors in full, even though his bankruptcy relieved him of having to do so. Twain was born shortly after an appearance of Halley’s Comet, and he predicted that he would ‘go out with it’ as well; he died the day after the comet made its closest approach to the Earth.This Collection included:TOM SAWYER SERIES· The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn· The Adventures of Tom Sawyer· Tom Sawyer Abroad· Tom Sawyer, Detective· A Tramp Abroad ALONZO FITZ AND OTHER STORIESAUTOBIOGRAPHIESLETTERSESSAYS AND NOVELS· A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court· In Defense of Harriet Shelley· A Double Barrelled Detective Story· Editorial Wild Oats· Essays on Paul Bourget· Eve’s Diary· Extract From Adam’s Diary· Extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven· Extracts From Adam’s Diary· The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut· Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offences· Following the Equator a Journey around the World· The Gilded Age· Goldsmith’s Friend Abroad Again· A Horse’s Tale· How to Tell a Story and Other Essays· The Innocents Abroad· Is Shakespeare Dead? From my Autobiography· Life on the Mississippi BIOGRAPHIC ESSAYS
About the author
Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens (1835 1910), was the celebrated author of several novels, including two major classics of American literature: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur and inventor.Early Life Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in the tiny village of Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835, the sixth child of John and Jane Clemens. When he was 4 years old, his family moved to nearby Hannibal, a bustling river town of 1, 000 people. John Clemens worked as a storekeeper, lawyer, judge and land speculator, dreaming of wealth but never achieving it, sometimes finding it hard to feed his family. He was an unsmiling fellow; according to one legend, young Sam never saw his father laugh. His mother, by contrast, was a fun-loving, tenderhearted homemaker who whiled away many a winter’s night for her family by telling stories. She became head of the household in 1847 when John died unexpectedly. The Clemens family ‘now became almost destitute, ‘ wrote biographer Everett Emerson, and was forced into years of economic struggle a fact that would shape the career of Twain.Twain in Hannibal Twain stayed in Hannibal until age 17. The town, situated on the Mississippi River, was in many ways a splendid place to grow up. Steamboats arrived there three times a day, tooting their whistles; circuses, minstrel shows and revivalists paid visits; a decent library was available; and tradesmen such as blacksmiths and tanners practiced their entertaining crafts for all to see.However, violence was commonplace, and young Twain witnessed much death: When he was nine years old, he saw a local man murder a cattle rancher, and at 10 he watched an enslaved person die after a white overseer struck him with a piece of iron.Hannibal inspired several of Twain’s fictional locales, including ‘St. Petersburg’ in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. These imaginary river towns are complex places: sunlit and exuberant on the one hand, but also vipers’ nests of cruelty, poverty, drunkenness, loneliness and soul-crushing boredom all parts of Twain’s boyhood experience.Sam kept up his schooling until he was about 12 years old, when with his father dead and the family needing a source of income he found employment as an apprentice printer at the Hannibal Courier, which paid him with a meager ration of food. In 1851, at 15, he got a job as a printer and occasional writer and editor at the Hannibal Western Union, a little newspaper owned by his brother, Orion.
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