Mark Twain: The Mysterious Stranger and Other Curious Tales [Hardcover]

Mark Twain (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 1997

Mark Twain is America's greatest literary humorist. Here we have a unique collection of mysterious and supernatural tales told with the devilish wit that is truly Twain's own. The collection is highlighted by the classic Mysterious Stranger, but also includes such short stories as: "The Many That Corrupted Hadleyburg," "The Five Boons of Life," "A Dog's Tale," and "Hunting the Deceitful Turkey". 448 pages.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Mark Twain is America's greatest literary humorist. Here we have a unique collection of mysterious and supernatural tales told with the devilish wit that is truly Twain's own. The collection is highlighted by the classic Mysterious Stranger, but also includes such short stories as: "The Many That Corrupted Hadleyburg," "The Five Boons of Life," "A Dog's Tale," and "Hunting the Deceitful Turkey". 448 pages.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Gramercy; First Edition edition (March 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517150735
• ISBN-13: 978-0517150733
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,270,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful Theology, June 3, 2002

By 

Randy Keehn (Williston, ND United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mark Twain: The Mysterious Stranger and Other Curious Tales (Hardcover)

When I was a young teenager (and that was many years ago) I read Twain's "The Mysterious Stranger" and it had a most dramatic affect on my life. It was the summation of what my youthful mind had been trying to figure out. Let me preface my further comments by saying that I am a devoted (I hope) Christian and have been for over 15 years. However, there was a long stretch when I was a confirmed atheist and, if I was to point to a Bible for that point of view, for me it was this book. In this short novel, Twain tells his story through the experiences of some young boys who encounter a "mysterious stranger'. The stranger points out many of the inconsistencies of Christianity and the world around us. Essentially the issue is the question many people have asked over the years; Why do bad things happen to good people? Twain delves deeply into this issue and the numerous examples lead the young narrator to conclude that the rantings of the stranger are, indeed, the truth. I am comfortable today re-reading this fascinating story because it is such an excellently crafted expalantion of Twain's theology in his later years. As a student of Twain, I became exasperated by the many scholars who tended to dismiss his later writings as the ramblings of a grieving man. It is true that Twain suffered many personal losses and I am sure that it influenced his perspective. However, much of his later work was brilliant. The reviewers I read often dismissed these later body of writing. It seemed to me that most of them had the opinion that, if it didn't make you laugh or give you insight to life on the Mississippi, then it wasn't important. I heartily disagree and "The Mysterious Stranger" is an excellent example of the brilliance of his later works.

I looked over the table of contents of this collection and I noticed a lot of other good stories among them. Two that came to mind were "Captain Stormfield" and "The Man who Corrupted Hadleyburg". This strikes me as a great introduction to the Mark Twain beyond "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn".

1 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A chilling version of reality :author sole live being ., June 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mark Twain: The Mysterious Stranger and Other Curious Tales (Hardcover)

Highly presumptuous of me to review as I have not read the entire novella. However I am essaying this review to note how powerful I find Mark Twain's posthumously published thesis. The implications are truly demonic and deserve careful thought. Ironically the current film TRUMAN has a similar theme. Yesterday at a special UC Berkeley collection of Mark Twain's papers and works I saw this little book prominently displayed as number 44 in UC press's massive series on the great author. I will be interested to read the reactions of others---presuming, unlike Twain, that there are such ;!