How to Tell a Story and Other Essays [with Biographical Introduction] [Kindle Edition]

Mark Twain (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"How to Tell a Story and Other Essays" is a collection of essays on various subjects by America's most famous satirist, Mark Twain. Contained in this volume you will find the following essays: How to Tell a Story, In Defense of Harriet Shelley, Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses, Travelling With a Reformer, Private History of the 'Jumping Frog' Story, Mental Telegraphy Again, What Paul Bourget Thinks of Us, A Little Note to M. Paul Bourget, The Invalid's Story, The Captain's Story, Stirring Times in Austria, Concerning the Jews, From the 'London Times' of 1904, and At the Appetite-Cure.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 401 KB
• Publisher: Digireads.com (July 1, 2004)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FC1Z7K
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #479,755 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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

74 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent collection but not what is described here, November 3, 2009

By 

Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: How to Tell a Story and Other Essays (Kindle Edition)

The actual contents of the free and the one dollar Kindle editions include:

How to Tell a Story
The Wounded Soldier
The Golden Arm
Mental Telegraphy Again
The Invalids Story

"Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences" and "Traveling With a Reformer" do not appear in this edition, in either the free or the $1.00 edition, despite the editorial comment to the contrary. The wonderful Fenimore Cooper essay is available online several places for free; see the second Comment for a link to UVA's collection. There are at least two Kindle versions for a buck or so:

The Literary Offenses of Fenimore Cooper $1.00.

Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences $.99

Nonetheless, this is still a very interesting collection, especially if you read aloud to children or adults. Twain has a great gift for explaining how to tell even a poor story.

Despite his disclaimer: "I do not claim that I can tell a story as it ought to be told. I only claim to know how a story ought to be told, for I have been almost daily in the company of the most expert story-tellers for many years."

A joy to read, silently or aloud, and the price is right.

Robert C. Ross 2009

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mark Twain extras, June 15, 2010

By 

Roy Sinclair (New Zealand, Christchurch) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: How to Tell a Story and Other Essays (Dodo Press) (Paperback)

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (Baby Board Books)

American writer Samuel Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain has given us some literary gems with Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and his travel adventures in nineteenth-century Europe and to Australia and New Zealand. Here is is discussing telling rather than writing a story.

Humour, he says, is American while comic is English and witty is French. He follows this typically brilliant essay with examples of story telling and some intriguing experiences of mental telegraphy.

Good on you Dodo Press for specialising in rare and out-of-print books.

Mark Twain devotees will want to add this slim volume to their collection.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the mouth of an American master, April 26, 2010

By 

C. Townsend (Oahu, HI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Tell a Story and Other Essays (Kindle Edition)

An entertaining read from on of America's treasured voices. I was particularly interested in the "How to Tell a Story" Essay and Mark Twain's lessons are just as relavent today. Kindle version was a welcome convenience and you can't beat the price!!