The Devil's Race-Track: Mark Twain's Great Dark Writings: The Best from Which Was the Dream? and Fables of Man [Hardcover]

Mark Twain (Author), John S. Tuckey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 1980

Mark Twain explores the darker side of life in these little-known later writings. The tone is lightened considerably by Twain's sagely ironic humor that balances his tough-mindedness.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John S.Tuckey was Professor of English at Purdue University. He was the author of Mark Twain and Little Satan as well as other studies on the writings of Mark Twain. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 385 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (April 28, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520037804
• ISBN-13: 978-0520037809
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,642,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Twain (1835-1910) was an American humorist, satirist, social critic, lecturer and novelist. He is mostly remembered for his classic novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Half-hearted Cynicism, November 18, 2000

By 

"brainbutcher" (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Devil's Race-Track: Mark Twain's Great Dark Writings: The Best from Which Was the Dream? and Fables of Man (Hardcover)

As a lazy philosopher in search of a belief system, I found this book exceptionally provocative, if occaisionally irritating. I'm generally not a fan of compilations, particularly when many of the pieces are unfinished manuscripts. However, it was wonderful to see so many of my own half-formed questions given an eloquent voice. The beauty of these writings is that though Twain/Clemmens pokes fun at or denounces the futility of the human struggle and our attempts to understand, he never gives in to his own dark thoughts. Throughout it all there is an undercurrent of hope. Contradictory, yes, but well worth look.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Trouble with Twain ..., March 21, 2009

By 

Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Devil's Race-Track: Mark Twain's "Great Dark" Writings, The Best from Which Was the Dream? and Fables of Man (Paperback)

... is his confounded OPTIMISM! The man seriously believed, it seems, that by making fun of humankind's dingiest superstitions and foibles he could make us properly reevaluate our place in the cosmos! What a Pollyanna! Every observant thinker from Diogenes to Vonnegut has learned that no amount of mockery can put a dent in humankind's indefensible self-satisfaction. Yet Twain continued to laugh at us well into his seventies, when a true pessimist would have been bawling bitter tears.

This is a compilation of Mark Twain's 'fugitive' writings, unfinished and/or unpublished, and much of it unpolished. But even Twain snatched from his wastebasket can be rib-tickling stuff. The two longest pieces are semi-finished verbal riffs on man's absurdity: "Three Thousand Years among the Microbes" & "The Refuge of the Derelicts". I don't think either piece is available in any other publication. Obviously, if you are not already a reader and fan of Mark Twain, you'd be ill advised to begin with this odd collection. But then, if you're not a fan of Mark Twain, any kind of advice is probably wasted on you.

Don't get this book and read it all at once, and then complain that it's not Twain at his best. Who cares? Put it by your arm chair or on your night table, and read a few pages when you need to be cheered up, when you need to be reminded that "all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds." An accompanying cocktail of hemlock might enhance the reading.

22 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this time twain has outdone himself the book is overwelming, December 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Devil's Race-Track: Mark Twain's Great Dark Writings. The Best from Which Was the Dream? and Fables of Man (Paperback)

Twain was one of the greatest writers of all time ,especialy if you compare him to other southern writers.the book is a beutiful interpritation of twains dark side. twain had a very cold side hidden away from most who knew him as americas leading humorist.twains dark side was brought on by family deaths and bad investments.i consider twain a realist and a true southerner, a man of his word but also a man of tall tales. all in all twains dark writings are as real as his humor ''some of them personal experiences''. it takes a l ot to believe twain could write such things because most people knew him as the humoristof such books as '' the notorious jumping frog & short stories such as curing a cold'. he let you see a different side of him in his dark writings. in the dark writings he showed the world the twain that greived & felt pain from his losses.