Customer Reviews

Mark Twain in Virginia City Nevada

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a nice, little (191 p.) abridged version of Twain's longer work, Roughing It, which focuses just on his experiences in Nevada. It begins with his journey to Carson City accompanying his brother who has come to work in the new territorial government and goes on to recount his first days there and numerous adventures to surrounding mining areas, including a fascinating description of a 'virgin' Mono Lake. The latter part of the book is devoted to his time in Virginia City as a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper and his accounts of life in that rough and tumble boomtown.

I give the book a blended rating of 4: the narrative and writing is typical Twain -- superb and a solid 5; however the production quality of the book is mediocre, no better than a 2 or 3. It appears to be a reproduction (read copy) of an old 1800's era printing; the text quality is poor with some missing or blurred characters. These flaws are partially redeemed by the inclusion of numerous (almost one every other page) pen and ink drawings depicting scenes and characters from the book. Overall this is an entertaining recollection of old West life from a master storyteller and enough towhet one's appetite for the lengthier original.