Tales, Speeches, Essays, and Sketches

By Mark Twain

Book Overview

These short fiction and prose pieces display the variety of Twain's imaginative invention, his diverse talents, and his extraordinary emotional range. Twain was a master of virtually every prose genre; in fables and stories, speeches and essays, he skilfully adapted, extended or satirized literary conventions, guided only by his unruly imagination. From the comic wit that sparkles in maxims from 'Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar, ' to the parodic perfection of 'An Awful - Terrible Medieval Romance, ' to the satirical delights of The Innocents Abroad and Roughing It; from the warm nostalgia of 'Early Days' to the bitter, brooding tone of 'The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg' to the anti-imperial vehemence of 'To the Person Sitting in the Darkness' and the poignant grief expressed in 'Death of Jean', Twain emerges in this volume in many guises, all touched by genius. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140434178
• ISBN13: 9780140434170
• Release Date: September 1994
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The humor that redeems

This is a varied collection of the writings of American's greatest humorist. It contains many of his most well- known short pieces from the devastating critique of Fenimore - Cooper to 'The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg'. It contains newspaper reportage, short stories, literary essays, excerpts from his books. In almost all that he writes his great humor keeps us smiling, laughing and reading.