The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Mark Twain (Author), Charles Dudley Warner (Author), Louis J. Budd (Editor, Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001 | Series: Penguin Classics

First published in 1873, The Gilded Age is both a biting satire and a revealing portrait of post-Civil War America - an age of corruption when crooked land speculators, ruthless bankers, and dishonest politicians voraciously took advantage of the nation's peace-time optimism. With his characteristic wit and perception, Mark Twain and his collaborator, Charles Dudley Warner, attack the greed, lust, and naivete of their own time in a work which endures as a valuable social document and one of America's most important satirical novels.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Gilded Age, says Justin D. Kaplan in his covering introduction, its "the most savage satire on democracy that American literature has to offer." Published in 1873, it was Mark Twain's first assay at sustained fiction, written in collaboration with Hartford newspaperman and essayist Charles Dudley Warner. This new edition is set from the original corrected second printing of the first edition. Of interest as germinal Twain and Americana. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Mark Twain (1835-1910), satirist, novelist and keen observer of the American scene, is one of America's best-loved writers. Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900) was the author of many essays, including the collection My Summer Garden (1871). Louis J Budd is James B. Duke Professor of English (emeritus) at Duke University and founding president of the Mark Twain Circle of America. He has written several studies of Mark Twain and American literature.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014043920X
• ISBN-13: 978-0140439205
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #617,505 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

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read., February 8, 2001

By 

Brant Day (Norman, OK, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (Meridian Classic) (Paperback)

This book, written by Twain and Warner, pokes fun at American society during what they called "the guilded age". This term has stuck and is often used by historians to describe the period 1877-1914. Twain and Warner see this time as one where men care only for money. These men will not work hard, but merely scheme and plot in order to strike it rich. The dialogue in the book is very snappy, the best being when Laura Hawkins arrives in Washington, DC and meets with the other high society ladies. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in United States History, or just those who want to read a good novel. The book can drag at times, but overall is very engrossing.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Greed, February 17, 2004

By 

IRA Ross (LYNDHURST, NJ United States 07071) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

The post-Civil War years were a time of rapid industrialization in America, aided and abetted by burgeoning plans to build a transcontinental railroad. Many people saw an opportunity to get a piece of the action, to speculate with family savings, the little that there were, in hopes of making millions of dollars in return. Investing in coal mining was one example. It is against this background that _The Gilded Age_ takes place.

Many in Congress saw an opportunity to support various projects that were supposedly for the public good, e.g. building a university for the newly freed slaves upon land, located in Tenneesee, bequeathed by a family patriarch to his children. These schemes were also meant to line many people's pockets. The novel's Senator Dilworthy supports various liberal causes and "family values," i.e. Sunday school education, but is also thoroughly corrupt.

_The Gilded Age_ is meant to be a morality tale where everyone receives his just deserts: the evil or those just plain greedy are punished, including a vengence seeking young woman deeply wronged by her married lover, and the good and the conscientious are rewarded. While the book occasionally gets bogged down in the scandalous details of this young woman's love life, _The Gilded Age_ is often an interesting, lively and educational glance into the manners of 1870s America.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars those complaining about this edition are reviewing the wrong book, August 28, 2011

By 

Jason Rhodes - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Several people here are saying this is just a scanned copy of the book and that it contains only
30-some of what should be 63 chapters. That's not the case with this edition of the book, the Penguin Classics
edition. Apparently they're talking about this edition: The Gilded Age which is a scanned, print
on demand photocopy.

You can use the "look inside this book" feature to see that all 63 chapters are here. Anyone familiar with the Penguin
Classics series knows that they are not scanned photocopies, filled with typos, or missing significant sections of the book.

Just thought I'd let you know that you can disregard the "don't buy this edition!" posts here, because this is not the edition they're actually talking about.