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The Portable Mark Twain
Satirist, novelist, and keen observer of the American scene, Mark Twain remains one of the world's best-loved writers. This delightful collection of Twain's favorite and most memorable writings includes selected tales and sketches, excerpts from his novels and travel books, autobiographical and polemical writings, as well as selected letters and speeches.
583 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
About the author
Mark Twain
9,212 books17.5k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various cities, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, before heading west to join Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to journalism. While a reporter, he wrote a humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," which proved to be very popular and brought him nationwide attention. His travelogues were also well-received. Twain had found his calling.
He achieved great success as a writer and public speaker. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.
However, he lacked financial acumen. Though he made a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he squandered it on various ventures, in particular the Paige Compositor, and was forced to declare bankruptcy. With the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers, however, he eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain worked hard to ensure that all of his creditors were paid in full, even though his bankruptcy had relieved him of the legal responsibility.
Born during a visit by Halley's Comet, he died on its return. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age", and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature".
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
AKA:
Μαρκ Τουαίν (Greek)
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various cities, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, before heading west to join Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to journalism. While a reporter, he wrote a humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," which proved to be very popular and brought him nationwide attention. His travelogues were also well-received. Twain had found his calling.
He achieved great success as a writer and public speaker. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.
However, he lacked financial acumen. Though he made a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he squandered it on various ventures, in particular the Paige Compositor, and was forced to declare bankruptcy. With the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers, however, he eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain worked hard to ensure that all of his creditors were paid in full, even though his bankruptcy had relieved him of the legal responsibility.
Born during a visit by Halley's Comet, he died on its return. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age", and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature".
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
AKA:
Μαρκ Τουαίν (Greek)
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 19, 2017
Great collection, if you haven't read Mark Twain, grab this, if you have, gab it anyway and take the journey all over again.
October 4, 2016
Eh. I mean, I'm actually not that big a Mark Twain fan just in general.
I know. Shoot me now, right?
But seriously. It's nothing personal--it's not like I think he's a horrendous writer or anything--he just doesn't have a style that clicks with me personally.
Plus, the fact that every professor/teacher I've ever had sort of puffs him up to be the amazing writer...Sorta sets a person up for disappointment, you know?
So there's that.
Three stars and done.
I know. Shoot me now, right?
But seriously. It's nothing personal--it's not like I think he's a horrendous writer or anything--he just doesn't have a style that clicks with me personally.
Plus, the fact that every professor/teacher I've ever had sort of puffs him up to be the amazing writer...Sorta sets a person up for disappointment, you know?
So there's that.
Three stars and done.
Read
May 26, 2020Why did I commit myself to this volume? Twain isn’t especially fashionable these days, never been recommended to me, nothing urgent about the task of familiarizing myself with this dusty “giant of American letters.” Frankly I chose it over other books lying around under the assumption it’d be of a relatively low syntactic difficulty level and thus appropriate for bedtime reading lasting longer than 30 seconds. Lydia Davis confessed in an interview or story or some such thing that she’s prone to lapsing into autopilot while she reads, and pathetically I’ve put a lot of stock in this admission—if she’s not immune to it, why should I be? Luckily the main event so to speak (“Huck Finn”) is famously peppered with that HISTORICALLY CONTINGENT malediction we love to hate, and it’s hard not to perk up and reorient oneself whenever it makes an appearance. The stories, maxims, speeches, letters and excerpts—much of the book is made up of Twain scholar selected chunks from novels like “Connecticut Yankee...”—are all pleasant enough showcases of Twain’s legendary wit. I suppose you give what you get, and the Jinn/neurasthenia eating away at my brainpower just wouldn’t let up and allow me to really splash around too deep in that cool Mississippi immortalized by Clemens the Confederate clown—his Civil War story is stunning, I mean all of it is, I don’t have a contrarian view of the guy. Picture a scrappy urchin boy rolling around in the hog shed, his doughy taskmaster aunt chasing him with a rolling pin. This doesn’t literally occur in “Huck Finn” but it’s really not far off, I think it’s safe to say Twain is the grandaddy of these delightful tropes. Huck’s virulently racist alcoholic dad—you love it, I love it, it’s classic American literature, literally the great American novel according to Hemingway, who worshipped it other than the ending, which he felt was facile. Some graybeard prospector won’t shut up about his racing frog, and this sheds light on some axiomatic truth—yes, very good, this is high culture. Oh and we can’t forget... “cornpone opinions” that epistemic breakthrough... would be doing you a great disservice if I neglected to mention “puddnhead wilson,” my favorite needless to say, well next to the speech about the alphabet delivered at an Andrew Carnegie dinner. This is my love/hate relationship with literature laid bare
February 17, 2020
It was the Viking edition I read. Although I read a few of the other Twain works, it was really Huckleberry Finn that I was most interested in. I have to believe I read it as a kid, but really don't remember any of it.
Fun story that was used as a vehicle for Twain to ridicule so many different kind of folks. To make matters more fun, Tom Sawyer rejoins Huck (by coincidence, really??!). His role is to make a relatively simple escape into something complicated and time consuming.
Reading (rereading?) the book made me search for the movie. I found at least 12 that were made. Some of them can be found on-line with some of them free. I didn't get through most, especially the musical, but liked the 1939 black & white version with Mickey Rooney. The movie only covers a portion of the story.
Anyway, a nice jaunt down memory lane.
Fun story that was used as a vehicle for Twain to ridicule so many different kind of folks. To make matters more fun, Tom Sawyer rejoins Huck (by coincidence, really??!). His role is to make a relatively simple escape into something complicated and time consuming.
Reading (rereading?) the book made me search for the movie. I found at least 12 that were made. Some of them can be found on-line with some of them free. I didn't get through most, especially the musical, but liked the 1939 black & white version with Mickey Rooney. The movie only covers a portion of the story.
Anyway, a nice jaunt down memory lane.
July 10, 2018
This is the best way to get acquainted with Twain’s writings. To be honest, I struggle through most of his writings. They just don’t jump out at me and grab me. I like his travel writings more than his fiction or essays, but even they can be too dry and dense for me at times. Maybe it’s the time difference or the cultural difference, but I at least see the strong influence he has had on subsequent American humorists, from Mad Magazine to Kurt Vonnegut’s writings. We have to thank him for his humor and writings and his positive influence on American culture.
April 21, 2014
Cannibalism in The Cars by Mark Twain
Can you combine horror, cannibalism and…humor?
Looking at the title, we must expect ghastly, descriptions of gore, humans at their worst.
But the name of the author suggests another approach, as we wouldn’t expect the author of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Jumping Frog and other humorous tales to engage in a saga of blood and humans eating men’s flesh.
The story begins with an innocent, if puzzling introduction, with some talk on political activities, which engage the attention of a character who stars his story within the story-
A group of politicians had been travelling on a train, in the winter snow. They get stuck and this is where their ordeal starts. They spend days in the snow, without food- the snow provides them with water.
As in other stories we have read or seen as films, the issue of eating one of them arises. The fact is that now we get such stories in the news, albeit not every day, there are few people eating each other literally. Figuratively speaking, the Russians are eating up the Ukraine, slowly and with its supposedly willing Russian speaking militias.
There is the infamous case of the South American airline which crashed in the mountains with a group of survivors having to eat human flesh to survive. In that case the people eaten had been dead, killed by the crash and their flesh helped the surviving party to come back home alive, over the mountains and after a very tough journey.
The politicians make their death game funny by turning the “election” of breakfast and supper into an uproarious enterprise with votes, expression of fondness for the good bodily weight of one and disillusion of the apparent toughness of the meat on the bones of another.
The narrator expresses delight at the meal made from one colleague and disappointment at the taste of some other congressman. We are both repelled and entertained by this “Hunger Game”.
It was puzzling to read about them repeating so often and cooking so many of them. I expected a brake of at least a few days between sacrifices, but once started the culinary show went on uninterrupted. Or didn’t it?
There are some issues which cast some doubt, but I will not talk about what happens towards the end, only to say that the finale is entertaining and in a degree surprising.
It is an impressive feat to be both hilarious and scary. It happens in this very short saga, without the popular vampires of today.
Can you combine horror, cannibalism and…humor?
Looking at the title, we must expect ghastly, descriptions of gore, humans at their worst.
But the name of the author suggests another approach, as we wouldn’t expect the author of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Jumping Frog and other humorous tales to engage in a saga of blood and humans eating men’s flesh.
The story begins with an innocent, if puzzling introduction, with some talk on political activities, which engage the attention of a character who stars his story within the story-
A group of politicians had been travelling on a train, in the winter snow. They get stuck and this is where their ordeal starts. They spend days in the snow, without food- the snow provides them with water.
As in other stories we have read or seen as films, the issue of eating one of them arises. The fact is that now we get such stories in the news, albeit not every day, there are few people eating each other literally. Figuratively speaking, the Russians are eating up the Ukraine, slowly and with its supposedly willing Russian speaking militias.
There is the infamous case of the South American airline which crashed in the mountains with a group of survivors having to eat human flesh to survive. In that case the people eaten had been dead, killed by the crash and their flesh helped the surviving party to come back home alive, over the mountains and after a very tough journey.
The politicians make their death game funny by turning the “election” of breakfast and supper into an uproarious enterprise with votes, expression of fondness for the good bodily weight of one and disillusion of the apparent toughness of the meat on the bones of another.
The narrator expresses delight at the meal made from one colleague and disappointment at the taste of some other congressman. We are both repelled and entertained by this “Hunger Game”.
It was puzzling to read about them repeating so often and cooking so many of them. I expected a brake of at least a few days between sacrifices, but once started the culinary show went on uninterrupted. Or didn’t it?
There are some issues which cast some doubt, but I will not talk about what happens towards the end, only to say that the finale is entertaining and in a degree surprising.
It is an impressive feat to be both hilarious and scary. It happens in this very short saga, without the popular vampires of today.
August 26, 2009
Although my experience with his works is not yet complete, I can safely say that I will always consider Mark Twain to be one of the absolute giants of American literature, standing favorably to any sampling of Hemingway or Emerson you can find. I think the brilliance of his writing, as evidenced in this collection of short stories and novel excerpts, is that while his stories almost always involve period events and often have characters speaking in rural 19th-century Missouri dialect, his characters (including himself in autobiographical essays) are immediately accessible and so recognizable to us in so many ways as ourselves. It is a very rare writer indeed who writes for his times and causes readers to chuckle aloud almost two centuries later. If you're not sure you'll like Twain, pick this book up and read a couple of stories - you'll get a great overview of his work, and, more likely than not, be on the bandwagon before long.
March 28, 2012
Although I've read some of the Twain's most admired novels like Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer,The Prince and the Pauper,etc., I wanted to read some
of the shorter pieces for which he first became known. This is a fine
selection of those and a good introduction to his work, as it also contains selections from the novels. I think I had forgotten how very good Twain could be and I'm going next to pursue some biographical background.
of the shorter pieces for which he first became known. This is a fine
selection of those and a good introduction to his work, as it also contains selections from the novels. I think I had forgotten how very good Twain could be and I'm going next to pursue some biographical background.
September 19, 2007
I only read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn out of this book. I enjoyed Huck Finn and am glad that I read it.
The only problem I had with the book was understanding some of the dialect but that got easier as I read. That is why I gave it a 4 instead of a five.
I think that at a later point I may read some more Mark Twain.
The only problem I had with the book was understanding some of the dialect but that got easier as I read. That is why I gave it a 4 instead of a five.
I think that at a later point I may read some more Mark Twain.
June 16, 2012
First of all, it's 2" thick, so it's not all that "portable". But I'm enjoying the short stories and clips of his autobiography and Pud'dnhead Wilson's calendar. I skipped over the excerpts of "A Conn. Yankee..." and "Huckleberry Finn". I haven't read the first in it's entirety so reading just a chapter seemed awkward.
July 8, 2008
One of my all-time favs. Some great short stories here...
December 9, 2011
Excellent collection of writings by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, AKA Mark Twain.
August 12, 2020
Long time since I've read Twain; laugh out loud funny and cuts deep with his scorn.
Read
December 6, 2018Exceptional book a pleasure to read parts of several of Twain's books. The full book of Huck Finn was especially great to read again. A must for everyone to read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews