The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain (Modern Library Classics) [Paperback]

Mark Twain (Author), Lawrence Berkove (Editor), Pete Hamill (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Modern Library Classics | Publication Date: April 13, 2004

This unique collection of Twain’s essential short stories and semiautobiographical narratives is a testament to the author’s vast imagination. Featuring popular tales such as “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog” and “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg,” as well as some delightful excerpts from The Diaries of Adam and Eve, this compilation also includes darker works written in the author’s twilight years. These selections illuminate the depth of Twain’s artistry, humor, irony, and narrative genius.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mark Twain was a master of ''pungent tall talk and picaresque adventure.'' --The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature

William Faulkner considered Mark Twain ''the father of American literature.'' --. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

About the Author

LAWRRENCE I. BERKOVE, this volume's editor, is a professor of English at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, and a noted authority on Mark Twain. He has published groundbreaking essays on Twain’s major novels, short fiction, travel literature, and religious values.

PETE HAMILL, this volume's introducer, is a journalist, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story writer, and the author of A Drinking Life: A Memoir and Why Sinatra Matters. His ten novels include Snow in August and Forever. He lives in New York City.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library; Modern Library edition (April 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812971183
• ISBN-13: 978-0812971187
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #135,818 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

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unavoidable!, January 26, 2007

By 

Inspector Gadget "Go Go Gadget Reviews" (On the trail of Doctor Claw) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

I have no doubt that Mark Twain was one of the greatest writers ever and if you've read his more popular work then I suggest that you sit down with these rarely printed short stories to prove to yourself just what a genius he was. The stories here are so good they're unavoidable for Twain devotees. They amount of imagination crammed into these pages could provoke years of inspiration and pondering.

While they are mostly all unrelated tales, Twain does have one main subtext for pretty much all of them-the futility of religion. Like myself, Twain believes that the romantic, fantastic notion of a judging, ever-watching and vengeful God to be absurd and works in so many ironies and injustices that give them a cruel, but somewhat realistic edge. The story of the Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper is but one shining example.

A lot of the stories are told from Twain's point of view, whether they are true are not I cannot possibly tell, but it's amusing to think of him at the centre of all these adventures.

Of the 23 stories on offer some only last a few pages while epic yarns such as Captain Stormfield's Visit To Heaven can fill-out 51 jam-packed pages. My favorites stories would have to A Private History of a Campaign That Failed (in which Twain and his Rebel pals spend the Civil War hanging around, swimming in ponds and hiding from the Yankees, until they accidently kill an unarmed enemy) and Political Economy (where Twain finds it appropriate to attach a thousand lightning conductors to the top of his house only for it to attract the mother of all lightning storms).

It's a perfect book for any Mark Twain fan, anyone who loves good literature or anyone studying English.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Effective Collection, April 22, 2007

By 

Ryan Leack (Fullerton, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

This collection of short stories will is just what it says it is. While it does not give you any additional information on Mark Twain, it does provide you with some of his best short stories and allows you to envision this brilliant writer with some of his finest works. This volume is very humorous, so buy it if you enjoy Mark Twain or just want a good laugh or two.