Tom Sawyer Abroad / Tom Sawyer, Detective (Twain, Mark//Mark Twain Library) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It has taken nearly a century for an edition to be readied which Twain would have applauded." -- Susan Gillman, Christian Science Monitor

Product Description

"Do you reckon Tom Sawyer was satisfied after all them adventures? . . . No, he wasn't. It only just pisoned him for more." So Huck declares at the start of these once-celebrated but now little-known sequels to his own adventures. Tom, Huck, and Jim set sail to Africa in a futuristic air balloon, where they survive encounters with lions, robbers, and fleas and see some of the world's greatest wonders in Tom Sawyer Abroad. The boys then turn sleuth in Tom Sawyer, Detective as they attempt to solve a mysterious murder in this burlesque of the immensely popular detective novels of the time. Replete with down-home, backwoods Missouri wisdom, these two stories tackle every subject from the Crusades and chronometers to ghosts and swearing popes. This authoritative edition includes all of the original illustrations Mark Twain commissioned from Dan Beard ("the only man who can correctly illustrate my writings") and A. B. Frost ("the best humorous artist that I know"). Based directly on the author's manuscripts, incorporating only his revisions and restoring many passages once suppressed by fastidious editors, the texts are presented here in the only form Twain intended them. Illustrations: 50 b/w illustrations

Product Details

• Paperback: 205 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (May 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520242025
• ISBN-13: 978-0520242029
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #822,549 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not classics, February 9, 2000

By	Joe Kenney "buttergun" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective (The Mark Twain Library) (Paperback)

I was surprised to discover the existance of these two books: Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer Detective. Apparently, they were both very popular back when they were first published, in the late 1890s, but have become mostly forgotten. They're more novellas than anything; Detective isn't even 100 pages long. The illustrations are really good, and I plan on buying the other volumes in the Mark Twain Library, each of which include the original illustrations that were present in the first editions. Both Abroad and Detective are entertaining, but they're not in the mold of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. You know how in Huckleberry Finn, Huck goes through all these little misadventures, all the while growing up and gaining all kinds of wisdom, and then in the end, the book takes a harsh turn and goes back to the juvenile exploits of Tom Sawyer, when he and Huck try to free Jim? It's like the end of the book really doesn't have much to do with the rest of it, it's just Huck and Tom doing dumb, yet funny, kid stuff. Well, both Abroad and Detective are like that; only very occasionally do you get any of Huck's unique flashes of insight. Jim himself only appears in Abroad, which is a fantasy tale in which he, Tom, and Huck happen to be kidnapped onto a high-tech balloon (!) and go across the Atlantic to Africa. There's really not much of a plot or resolution, they just float along over the desert, Tom tells them about the Arabian Nights, and Jim gets stranded on the head of the Sphinx for a little while. Abroad picks up not long after the events in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and apparently Detective picks up not long after Abroad, though the events that transpired in Abroad are never mentioned in Tom Sawyer, Detective. Maybe Twain considered Abroad more of a whimsical tale, something that never really happened. Who knows...but I think Detective was the better of the two, even though Jim doesn't even appear in the book, and it's more of a mystery novel than anything. Huck basically plays the role of the reporter in Detective, just relating all of the incidents he witnessed in an unusual murder/crime, and describing Tom Sawyer's scene-stealing exploits in the trial that follows. Many of the characters that appeared in the last half of Adv. of Huck Finn make a return appearance in Detective. But anyway, both books are enjoyable to read, especially considering that both are written in the 1st person, from Huck's perspective, yet don't read them expecting the depth and emotion that are found in the Adv. of Huck Finn. I think these books were written for a younger audience, and that's how they read. But, for a frustrating, yet very interesting look into what might have been, had Twain finished his other two planned sequels to Huckleberry Finn, you should check out the book "Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer Among the Indians," which contains two unfinished sequels that are both heads and tails better than Abroad and Detective: Among the Indians and Tom Sawyer's Conspiracy. But that's all I have to say about that.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Juvenile Argonauts over the Sahara, February 12, 2003

By	Plume45 "kitka12345" (Westchester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective (The Mark Twain Library) (Paperback)

This book picks up right after the hallaballo has died down from Tom and Huck's triumphal return. Tom kinda craves notoriety as he competes for the unofficial title of Hannibal's First Traveler. Kidnapped by a mad inventor Tom, Huck and Jim
find themselves sailing in a hot-air balloon. They eventually realize that they are alone over the Atlantic, but when they sight land, it is not Europe! This first-person story is narrated with youthful zest and slangy vocabulary by an admiring Huck, so that he can praise Tom's leadership skills and power of argument.

The three unprepared argonauts finally understand that they are floating over the vast Sahara Desert, where they experience a variety of adventures--interspersed with juvenile deductions and lively debate. Their challenges are right out of the Arabian Nights: no magic lamp or genies, but Twain serves up caravans, lions, mirages, warring Bedouin tribes, and a devastating sand storm. All this action is spiced with his wry humor, as he slips in snide remarks about more serious social issues (spoken through the mouths of babes). Although this tale is Plot Lite, there's plenty of lively dialogue, as the boys argue using kid logic, while indulging in youthful dreams of sudden fortune. A fun read with sly social criticism. But really, Mark Twain--tigers--in Africa?