Best Selling Books by Mark Twain

Mark Twain''s ''The Complete Letters of Mark Twain'' offers a fascinating glimpse into the personal life and thoughts of one of America''s most iconic literary figures. Written in Twain''s signature witty and engaging style, this collection of letters provides insight into his relationships, humor, and observations on society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Twain''s masterful storytelling is evident even in his personal correspondence, making this book a must-read for fans of his work and anyone interested in American literature of the time. Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens, was a prolific writer known for his novels such as ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' and ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.'' His keen wit and satirical commentary on the American experience made him a prominent figure in the literary world. It is no surprise that his letters are just as captivating and insightful as his published works, offering a deeper understanding of the man behind the legend. I highly recommend ''The Complete Letters of Mark Twain'' to readers who are interested in gaining a more intimate understanding of this celebrated author. The collection provides a unique perspective on Twain''s life and times, showcasing his brilliance in a new and compelling light.

"The Autobiography of Mark Twain [is] a lengthy set of reminiscences, dictated, for the most part, in the last few years of American author Mark Twain''s life and left in typescript and manuscript at his death. The Autobiography comprises a rambling collection of anecdotes and ruminations rather than a conventional autobiography. Twain never compiled these writings and dictations into a publishable form in his lifetime. Despite indications from Twain that he did not want his autobiography to be published for a century, he serialised some Chapters from My Autobiography during his lifetime and various compilations were published during the 20th century. However it was not until 2010, in the 100th anniversary year of Twain''s death, that the first volume of a comprehensive collection, compiled and edited by The Mark Twain Project of the Bancroft Library at University of California, Berkeley, was published." Wikipedia.com viewed 8/7/2020

This Library of America collection presents Twain''s best-known works, including Adventures of Hucklebery Finn, together in one volume for the first time. Tom Sawyer “is simply a hymn,” said its author, “put into prose form to give it a worldly air,” a book where nostalgia is so strong that it dissolves the tensions and perplexities that assert themselves in the later works. Twain began Huckleberry Finn the same year Tom Sawyer was published, but he was unable to complete it for several more. It was during this period of uncertainty that Twain made a pilgrimage to the scenes of his childhood in Hannibal, Missouri, a trip that led eventually to Life on the Mississippi. The river in Twain’s descriptions is a bewitching mixture of beauty and power, seductive calms and treacherous shoals, pleasure and terror, an image of the societies it touches and transports. Each of these works is filled with comic and melodramatic adventure, with horseplay and poetic evocations of scenery, and with characters who have become central to American mythology—not only Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, but also Roxy, the mulatto slave in Puddn’head Wilson, one of the most telling portraits of a woman in American fiction. With each book there is evidence of a growing bafflement and despair, until with Puddn’head Wilson, high jinks and games, far from disguising the terrible cost of slavery, become instead its macabre evidence. Through each of four works, too, runs the Mississippi, the river that T. S. Eliot, echoing Twain, was to call the “strong brown god.” For Twain, the river represented the complex and often contradictory possibilities in his own and his nation’s life. The Mississippi marks the place where civilization, moving west with its comforts and proprieties, discovers and contends with the rough realities, violence, chicaneries, and promise of freedom on the frontier. It is the place, too, where the currents Mark Twain learned to navigate as a pilot—an experience recounted in Life on the Mississippi—move inexorably into the Deep South, so that the innocence of joyful play and boyhood along its shores eventually confronts the grim reality of slavery. LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

Set in sixteenth-century England, Mark Twain''s classic "tale for young people of all ages" features two identical-looking boys--a prince and a pauper--who trade clothes and step into each other''s lives. While the urchin, Tom Canty, discovers luxury and power, Prince Edward, dressed in rags, roams his kingdom and experiences the cruelties inflicted on the poor by the Tudor monarchy. As Christopher Paul Curtis observes in his Introduction, "The Prince and the Pauper" is "funny, adventurous, and exciting, yet also chock-full of . . . exquisitely reasoned harangues against society''s ills." This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the Mark Twain Project edition, which is the approved text of the Center for Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association.

Tom Sawyer is a mischievous young boy with an undying hunger for adventure, and a knack for getting into trouble. He lives with his Aunt Polly in the Mississippi River town of St Petersburg, Missouri. He plays hooky from school; hangs around with Huck Finn, the unsophisticated son of the village drunkard; and deceives his friends into trading their treasures with him. Tom falls in love with Becky Thatcher, a new arrival in town, who returns his affection initially, and even agrees to an ''engagement''. However, after a slip of the tongue from Tom, she walks off in a huff. From innocent and imaginary adventures, Tom''s life suddenly takes a new turn. One night, while Tom and Huck Finn are in a graveyard, they witness an incident they should not have. Terrified, they flee from the spot, and swear a blood oath that they will never reveal their secret to anyone. Tom and Huck then find themselves entangled in a series of real and exciting adventures, with dangerous men constantly at their heels. Can the boys stand up to the occasion, and become real-life heroes? Will they ever be able to reclaim their normal, carefree lives again?

Thirty-six previously unpublished papers accompanied by textual appartus.

First published in 1884, Mark Twain''s "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a masterpiece of world literature. Narrated by Huck himself in his artless vernacular, it tells of his voyage down the Mississippi with a runaway slave named Jim. As the two journey downstream on a raft, Huck''s vivid descriptions capture the sights, smells, sounds, and rhythms of life on the great river. As they encounter traveling actors, con men, lynch mobs, thieves, and Southern gentility, his shrewd comments reveal the dark side of human nature. By the end of the story, Huck has learned about the dignity and worth of human life and Twain has exposed the moral blindness of the "respectable" slave-holding society in which he lives. Huckleberry Finn was Twain''s greatest creation.

-Includes the 221 original Illustrations by Phiz. -Table of contents to every chapters in the book. -Complete and formatted to improve your reading experience PLOT : The novel is a satirical comedy that looks at 6th-Century England and its medieval culture through the eyes of Hank Morgan, a 19th-century resident of Hartford, Connecticut, who, after a blow to the head, awakens to find himself inexplicably transported back in time to early medieval England at the time of the legendary King Arthur. The fictional Mr. Morgan, who had an image of that time that had been colored over the years by romantic myths, takes on the task of analyzing the problems and sharing his knowledge from 1300 years in the future to modernize, Americanize, and improve the lives of the people. The story begins as a first-person narrative in Warwick Castle, where a man details his recollection of a tale told to by an "interested stranger" who is personified as a knight through his simple language and familiarity with ancient armor.[2] After a brief tale of Sir Launcelot of Camelot and his role in slaying two giants from the third-person narrative, the man named Hank Morgan enters and, after being given whiskey by the narrator, he is persuaded to reveal more of his story. Described through first-person narrative as a man familiar with the firearms and machinery trade, Hank is a man who had reached the level of superintendent due to his proficiency in firearms manufacturing, with two thousand subordinates. He describes the beginning of his tale by illustrating details of a disagreement with his subordinates, during which he sustained a head injury from a "crusher" to the head caused by a man named "Hercules" using a crowbar.[3] After passing out from the blow, Hank describes waking up underneath an oak tree in a rural area of Camelot where a knight questions him for trespassing upon his land, and after establishing rapport, leads him towards Camelot castle.[4] Upon recognizing that he has time-traveled to the sixth century, Hank realizes that he is the de facto smartest person on Earth, and with his knowledge he should soon be running things. Hank is ridiculed at King Arthur''s court for his strange appearance and dress and is sentenced by King Arthur''s court (particularly the magician Merlin) to burn at the stake on 21 June. By a stroke of luck, the date of the burning coincides with a historical solar eclipse in the year 528, of which Hank had learned in his earlier life. (In reality, the solar eclipses nearest in time to 21 June, both partial, both in the Southern Hemisphere at maximum, in 528 occurred on 6 March and 1 August.[5]) While in prison, he sends the boy Clarence to inform the King that he will blot out the sun if he is executed. Hank believes the current date to be 20 June; however, it is actually the 21st when he makes his threat, the day that the eclipse will occur at 12:03 p.m. When the King decides to burn him, the eclipse catches Hank by surprise. But he quickly uses it to his advantage and convinces the people that he caused the eclipse. He makes a bargain with the King, is released, and becomes the second most powerful person in the kingdom. Hank is given the position of principal minister to the King and is treated by all with the utmost fear and awe. His celebrity brings him to be known by a new title, elected by the people — "The Boss". However, he proclaims that his only income will be taken as a percentage of any increase in the kingdom''s gross national product that he succeeds in creating for the state as Arthur''s chief minister, which King Arthur sees as fair. Although the people fear him and he has his new title, Hank is still seen as somewhat of an equal. The people might grovel to him if he were a knight or some form of nobility, but without that, Hank faces problems from time to time, as he refuses to seek to join such ranks.

Tom Sawyer is a mischievous young boy with an undying hunger for adventure, and a knack for getting into trouble. He lives with his Aunt Polly in the Mississippi River town of St Petersburg, Missouri. He plays hooky from school; hangs around with Huck Finn, the unsophisticated son of the village drunkard; and deceives his friends into trading their treasures with him.

Tom Sawyer is a mischievous young boy with an undying hunger for adventure, and a knack for getting into trouble. He lives with his Aunt Polly in the Mississippi River town of St Petersburg, Missouri. He plays hooky from school; hangs around with Huck Finn, the unsophisticated son of the village drunkard; and deceives his friends into trading their treasures with him. Tom falls in love with Becky Thatcher, a new arrival in town, who returns his affection initially, and even agrees to an ''engagement''. However, after a slip of the tongue from Tom, she walks off in a huff. From innocent and imaginary adventures, Tom''s life suddenly takes a new turn. One night, while Tom and Huck Finn are in a graveyard, they witness an incident they should not have. Terrified, they flee from the spot, and swear a blood oath that they will never reveal their secret to anyone. Tom and Huck then find themselves entangled in a series of real and exciting adventures, with dangerous men constantly at their heels. Can the boys stand up to the occasion, and become real-life heroes? Will they ever be able to reclaim their normal, carefree lives again?

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

The pauper and Prince Edward as imagined in 1899 The Prince and the Pauper is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain''s first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547, it tells the story of two young boys who are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive father in Offal Court off Pudding Lane in London, and Prince Edward, son of King Henry VIII.

The novel centers on the mischievous orphan Tom Sawyer, who lives in the quaint village of St. Petersburg, Missouri under the care of his kind Aunt Polly along with his ill-natured brother Sid and angelic cousin Mary. As a collection of stories, the novel is loosely structured, but follows the arc of Tom''s transformation from a rebellious boy who longs to escape authority to a responsible community member committed to respectability. Tom''s first adventure occurs as a result of him playing hooky, stealing snacks, sneaking in late, and various other misdeeds. As punishment, Aunt Polly tells him to whitewash her fence on a Saturday. Tom convinces his friends that whitewashing the fence is actually a privilege, and gets them to not only do the work for him but to pay him with various trinkets for the opportunity. On his way home he develops a crush on the new girl in town, Becky Thatcher.

Tom Sawyer is a mischievous young boy with an undying hunger for adventure, and a knack for getting into trouble. He lives with his Aunt Polly in the Mississippi River town of St Petersburg, Missouri. He plays hooky from school; hangs around with Huck Finn, the unsophisticated son of the village drunkard; and deceives his friends into trading their treasures with him. Tom falls in love with Becky Thatcher, a new arrival in town, who returns his affection initially, and even agrees to an ''engagement''. However, after a slip of the tongue from Tom, she walks off in a huff. From innocent and imaginary adventures, Tom''s life suddenly takes a new turn. One night, while Tom and Huck Finn are in a graveyard, they witness an incident they should not have. Terrified, they flee from the spot, and swear a blood oath that they will never reveal their secret to anyone. Tom and Huck then find themselves entangled in a series of real and exciting adventures, with dangerous men constantly at their heels. Can the boys stand up to the occasion, and become real-life heroes? Will they ever be able to reclaim their normal, carefree lives again?

Tom and Huck then find themselves entangled in a series of real and exciting adventures, with dangerous men constantly at their heels. Can the boys stand up to the occasion, and become real-life heroes? Will they ever be able to reclaim their normal, carefree lives again?