A Tramp Abroad (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Mark Twain (Author), Robert Gray Bruce (Contributor), Hamlin Hill (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: December 1, 1997

Twain's account of travelling in Europe, "A Tramp Abroad" (1880), sparkles with the author's shrewd observations and highly opinionated comments on Old World culture, and showcases his unparalleled ability to integrate humorous sketches, autobiographical tidbits, and historical anecdotes in a consistently entertaining narrative. Cast in the form of a walking tour through Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy, "A Tramp Abroad" includes among its adventures a voyage by raft down the Neckar and an ascent of Mount Blanc by telescope, as well as the author's attempts to study art - a wholly imagined activity Twain 'authenticated' with his own wonderfully primitive pictures included in this volume.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nearly nine decades after his death, Mark Twain remains an international icon. His white-maned, mustachioed image is instantly identifiable throughout the world, the very picture of probity and high spirits (which explains why he's become the poster boy for products as diverse as beer, billiard tables, sewing machines, pizza, and real estate). Perhaps more importantly, Twain's books have retained all their power to amuse and enrage. How is it possible for the creator of a 19th-century "boy's holiday book" (Twain's own description of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer) to raise so many contemporary hackles? The answer is that Twain is a contemporary writer. Not, of course, from a chronological point of view--he was born in Missouri in 1835 and died in 1910 (having insisted that "annihilation has no terrors for me"). But Twain was the first writer to elevate the American vernacular to a high art. Sidestepping the starched-shirt diction of his peers, he created an idiom that resembled (but did not precisely duplicate) the wayward, slangy, ungrammatical music of American conversation. No serious reader of Twain will want to do without the Oxford Mark Twain. This 29-volume leviathan includes not only the major works but also a treasure trove of essays and short pieces, many of them unavailable for decades. Throw in the introductions to each volume (by such heavyweights as Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, Cynthia Ozick, Gore Vidal, George Plimpton, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Walter Mosley), as well as the original illustrations, and you've got the book bargain of the millennium. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

?[A Tramp Abroad] is delicious, whether you open it at the sojourn in Heidelberg, or the voyage down the Neckar on a raft, or mountaineering in Switzerland, or the excursion beyond the Alps into Italy.? ?William Dean Howells --Review

"This new collection of the works of Mark Twain, complete with thought-provoking introductions by more than two dozen of our finest contemporary writers, is destined to become a modern-day classic."--The Oregonian<br /><br />"The season finds no lack of major literary works. The most inpressive debut must be the new 29-volume Oxford Mark Twain. This is a wonderful set."--The Houston Chronicle<br /><br />"The most impressive gift for book lovers this Christmas has to be The Oxford Mark Twain, a 29-volume collection of works by the writer may consider the central figure in American Literature."--The Kansas City Star<br /><br />"Now a major publishing event puts Twain in the spotlight again."--The Lexington Herald-Leader<br /><br />"For its beautiful design, its thoughtfulness, and its inclusion of virtually everything of importance by this great, great writer...I cannot praise it too highly."--Ihe Toronto Globe and Mail<br /><br />"The Oxford Mark Twain offers many days' worth of almost undiluted reading pleasure--as well an an effective rebuke to the agenda-burdened know-nothings who want Huckleberry Finn excised from the curriculum."--Kirkus Reviews<br /><br />"The family Christams gift of the year."--The Memphis Commercial Appeal<br /><br />"In compiling this impressive stack of works by Twain, Fishkin matched each volume with an American writer and asked them to pen a personal introduction to the work. The list reads like a syllabus from an American contemporary lit class, including such imaginative pair-ups as Arthur Miller on Chapters from My Autobiography.--St. Petersburg Times<br /><br />"The Oxford Twain is the real thing."--Washington Post<br /><br />"What draws you into these books and keeps you there is Twain's very American but very indivdual voice: deadpan, wry, sly, and animated by a plainspoken honesty that's several miles down the river from respectability." --Entertainment Weekly --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140436081
• ISBN-13: 978-0140436082
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #962,614 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

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A matchless eye with an acidic pen, October 3, 2001

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Tramp Abroad (1880) (Oxford Mark Twain) (Hardcover)

America's post-Civil War years brought a renewed interest in the European scene. Journeys
known as Grand Tours led tourists to take ship to the Continent. They fanned out across the
landscape with the intent to "know Europe." Their return home resulted in a flurry of
published accounts. Twain satirizes both the tourists and their writings with delicious
wit. Ever a man to play with words, his "tramp" refers to both himself and the walking tour
of Europe he purports to have made. By the time you've reached the end of the account of the
"walking tour" incorporating trains, carriages and barges, you realize that the longest "walk"
Twain took occurred in dark hotel room while trying to find his bed. He claims to have
covered 47 miles wandering around the room.

Twain was interested in everything, probing into both well-known and obscure topics. His
judgments are vividly conveyed in this book, standing in marked contrast to his more
reserved approach in Innocents Abroad. A delightful overview of mid-19th Century Europe,
Tramp is also interlaced with entertaining asides. Twain was deeply interested in people, and
various "types" are drawn from his piercing gaze, rendered with acerbic wit. Some of these
are contemporary, while others are dredged from his memories of the California mines and
other journeys. He also relished Nature's marvels, recounting his observations. A favourite
essay is "What Stumped the Blue-jays." A nearly universal bird in North America, Twain's
description of the jay's curiosity and expressive ability stands unmatched. He observes such
humble creatures as ants, Alpine chamois, and the American tourist. Few escape his
perception or his scathing wit. This book remains valuable for its timeless rendering of
characters and the universality of its view. It can be read repeatedly for education or
entertainment.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An underrated book that at times is absolutely hilarious, November 14, 2004

By 

Paul H (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Tramp Abroad (1880) (Oxford Mark Twain) (Hardcover)

"A Tramp Abroad" is a humorous account of Mark Twain's travels in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. It is part travel guide, part commentary on European culture, and part tall tale. Like many of Twain's less-known works, "A Tramp Abroad" is rather uneven -- the chapters in the book range from rather boring to laugh-out-loud funny. Yet on balance, the humorous moments make up for the dull moments, and the majority of the less humorous chapters are still interesting. Apart from a few slow chapters, it provides a good read from beginning to end.

Some of the highlights of "A Tramp Abroad" are Twain's exaggerated account of his ascent of the Riffelberg (a mountain in the Swiss Alps), his comments on the peculiarities of the German language, and a hilarious episode in which Twain spends half an hour pretending to know a woman who remembers him though he doesn't remember her.

I have read most of Twain's works, and in my opinion "A Tramp Abroad" is not his best work, but it is definitely one of his most underrated books. It is not as good as his most popular works of fiction (i.e., Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn), nor is it as good as "Life on the Mississippi." But I found it to be the most entertaining of his purely travel-oriented books (the other books in that category being "The Innocents Abroad" and "Following the Equator"). The bottom line is that if you are a fan of Mark Twain's style, then you should find this book to be well worth reading.

Finally, if you are going to read "A Tramp Abroad," I highly recommend obtaining a version that contains all 328 of the original illustrations. While I normally would make this recommendation for any of Twain's works, it is especially important for this book since the text makes several references to the illustrations, and since some of the jokes in the text would not make sense without the illustrations. The only current edition I know of that definitely contains *all* of the original illustrations is the Oxford Mark Twain edition (ISBN 0195101375). Also, the Modern Library Classics edition (ISBN 0812970039) apparently has retained some of the original illustrations, since it contains a note stating that "... some illustrations have been omitted" (thus implying that some have not been omitted). I would assume that this edition has retained those illustrations which are essential to the humor, but I can't say for sure since I don't actually have it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Barometer Soup, August 3, 2000

By 

JOHN ANDREW ABEL (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Tramp Abroad (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I have not read Twain since High School twenty five plus years ago but a friend on a newspapers book forums got me to read him again and A Tramp Abroad is the first book I picked. For the current generation this book may drag but for those of us who grew up reading books instead of playing computer games this is Twain at his best. One has to actually read into his writing to appreciate a lot of the irony but when this book is really on like the mountain climbing near the Matterhorn ,Twain makes Seinfeld seem like he's talking about something. A brilliant travel essay and by the way the Penguin Classics edition of this book in paperback is 411 pages long, not 670 pages .