Mark Twain

Fully entitled "The Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrims' Progress," Twain's colorful travelogue is a compilation of the newspaper articles he wrote while on a cruise to Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land with other American tourists in 1867. His account frequently uses humor to describe the people and places he visits, although this becomes highly satiric at times as Twain becomes frustrated with European profiteering, a pointless historical anecdote in Gibraltar, and the overly institutionalized nature of countries like Italy. Where he critiques, however, he also feels a strange reverence, as in the Canary Islands and the Holy Land. A more serious theme also flows through Twain's experience. Twain sees the conflict between history and the modern world as he travels with his New World compatriots through the lands of ancient civilizations, ultimately discovering that you can't believe everything you read in travel guidebooks. This landmark work finds Twain searching for the American identity as it increasingly casts its shadow over the world of Old Europe. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper with an Introduction by Edward P. Hingston.

This comprehensive collection of Twain's short stories showcases his immense talent, humor, and wit. Considered to be the greatest American humorist of all time, Mark Twain was born in 1835 and was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, where many of his most well-known stories take place. Twain led an adventurous life: working as a type setter for his brother's newspaper as a young man, then as a riverboat pilot on the Missouri river, followed by a stint as a miner in Nevada and California, and then finally as a journalist and writer, where he found success and fame. These experiences would form the basis of many of his most famous tales, such as "The Celebrated Jumping Frog from Calaveras County," the first story to bring him national attention and fame and was based on a tale he heard while mining in California. While Twain may be best known for his accomplishments as a novelist, this collection of short stories spanning his lengthy and prolific career showcases his brilliant ability to create fascinating characters, his expert plotting, and his unrivaled wit and humor. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I never seen anybody but lied one time or another, without it was Aunt Polly, or the widow, or maybe Mary. Aunt Polly-Tom's Aunt Polly, she is-and Mary, and the Widow Douglas is all told about in that book, which is mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as I said before.

An irreverent and greatly improved alternate ending by Mock Twain to the hideously awful original ending of Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"---an ending so bad Hemingway urged nobody to read it. This one will make you laugh uncontrollably. The Adventures of Chuck-Wagon Gin in Hell is what happens when somebody is forced to read Huck Finn---by an English instructor who ignores Hemingway's command and insanely gushes over the greatness of the original ending. Rave reviews: "What's better than a satire? A satire of a satire "----Somebody Famous "Hemingway would have loved this and laughed uncontrollably, if Hemingway were alive, and forced to read this and ordered to laugh uncontrollably at gunpoint, or knifepoint, or a really sharp pencilpoint, or maybe just forced to sit in a comfy chair to read this and tickled, and given a lot to drink to boot."----Somebody Else Famous "Mark Twain meets Monty Python. The Black Knight always triumphs."----Somebody Else, But Not Really Famous "Hemingway would have loved this and laughed uncontrollably, gun or no gun. Everybody on planet Earth should read this so they can laugh uncontrollably. This is the best thing that has ever been written."----Somebody REALLY Famous Special introductory price----will not last long. You'll love it. That's both an observation and an imperative. Don't keep ogling this screen----go read it

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, have each come into a considerable sum of money as a result of their earlier adventures. Huck has been placed under the guardianship of the Widow Douglas, who, together with her sister, Miss Watson, is attempting to civilize him. Huck appreciates their efforts, but finds civilized life confining. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the great American novels, universally popular among readers and a continued object of study by serious literary critics. This new edition features original text noted for its colourful description of people and places along the Mississippi River, and numerous illustrations accompanying the text.

The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims' Progress is a travel book by American author Mark Twain published in 1869 which humorously chronicles what Twain called his "Great Pleasure Excursion" on board the chartered vessel Quaker City (formerly USS Quaker City) through Europe and the Holy Land with a group of American travelers in 1867. It was the best-selling of Twain's works during his lifetime, as well as one of the best-selling travel books of all time.

Hank Morgan, a mechanic at a gun factory, is knocked unconscious and awakens in England in the year 528. He is captured and taken to Camelot, where he is put on exhibit before the knights of King Arthur's Round Table. He is condemned to death, but remembering having read of an eclipse on the day of his execution, he amazes the court by predicting the eclipse. Later he concocts some crude gunpowder and uses it to blow up Merlin's tower. It is decided that he is a sorcerer like Merlin, and he is made minister to the ineffectual king. In an effort to bring democratic principles and mechanical knowledge to the kingdom, he strings telephone wire, starts schools, trains mechanics, and teaches journalism. He also falls in love and marries. But when Hank tries to better the lot of the peasants, he meets opposition from many quarters, including the knights, the church, Merlin, and the sorceress Morgan le Fay. He and Arthur, in disguise, travel among the miserable common folk, are taken captive and sold as slaves, and only at the last second are rescued by 500 knights on bicycles. Hank and his family briefly retire to the seaside. When they return they find the kingdom engulfed in civil war, Arthur killed, and Hank's innovations abandoned. Hank is wounded, and Merlin, pretending to nurse him, casts a spell that puts him to sleep until the 19th century.

Following the Equator (sometimes titled More Tramps Abroad) is a non-fiction social commentary in the form of a travelogue published by Mark Twain in 1897. Twain was practically bankrupt in 1894 due to a failed investment into a "revolutionary" typesetting machine. In an attempt to extricate himself from debt of $100,000 (equivalent of about $2.5 million in 2010) he undertook a tour of the British Empire in 1895 at age 60, a route chosen to provide numerous opportunities for lectures in English.

Alonzo Fitz, and Other Stories by Mark Twain is one of the vintage collections. It is one of the greatest works in the field of fiction.

Roughing It is a book of semi-autobiographical travel literature by Mark Twain. It was written in 1870-71 and published in 1872, as a prequel to his first travel book The Innocents Abroad (1869). The book follows the travels of young Mark Twain through the Wild West during the years 1861-1867. After a brief stint as a Confederate cavalry militiaman (not included in the account), he joined his brother Orion Clemens, who had been appointed Secretary of the Nevada Territory, on a stagecoach journey west. Twain consulted his brother's diary to refresh his memory and borrowed heavily from his active imagination for many stories in the book. Roughing It illustrates many of Twain's early adventures, including a visit to Salt Lake City, gold and silver prospecting, real-estate speculation, a journey to the Kingdom of Hawaii, and his beginnings as a writer. This memoir provides examples of Twain's rough-hewn humor, which would become a staple of his writing in such later books as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889).

Life on the Mississippi (1883) is a memoir by Mark Twain of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War, and also a travel book, recounting his trip along the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans many years after the War.

Following the Equator (sometimes titled More Tramps Abroad) is a non-fiction social commentary in the form of a travelogue published by Mark Twain in 1897. Twain was practically bankrupt in 1894 due to a failed investment into a "revolutionary" typesetting machine. In an attempt to extricate himself from debt of $100,000 (equivalent of about $2.5 million in 2010) he undertook a tour of the British Empire in 1895 at age 60, a route chosen to provide numerous opportunities for lectures in English.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. In the novel Tom has several adventures, often with his friend, Huck. One such adventure, Tom's whitewashing of a fence, has been adapted into paintings and referenced in other pieces of popular culture. Originally a commercial failure the book ended up being the best selling of any of Twain's works during his lifetime.