The Stolen White Elephant

By Mark Twain

Book Overview

Experience Mark Twain's signature wit and satirical genius in "The Stolen White Elephant," a collection of detective and mystery short stories that blend suspense with side-splitting humor. In classic Twain fashion, these tales offer a unique take on the conventions of detective fiction, skewering the often-serious genre with his characteristic playful narrative style.

Prepared meticulously for print republication, this edition allows readers to delve into Twain's world of baffling mysteries and comical investigations. Discover why Twain's humorous takes on crime and detection have remained beloved for generations. Perfect for fans of mystery, humor, and timeless literary satire, "The Stolen White Elephant" is a delightful journey into the mind of one of America's greatest storytellers.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1023117789
• ISBN13: 9781023117784
• Release Date: March 2025
• Publisher: Anson Street Press
• Length: 26 Pages
• Weight: 0.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

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.