Innocents Abroad (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

by Mark Twain (Author), Leslie A. Fiedler (Afterword) "For months the great pleasure excursion to Europe and the Holy Land was chatted about in the newspapers everywhere in America and discussed at countless..." (more)
Key Phrases: pleasure excursion, Holy Land, New York, Dead Sea (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
(in full The Innocents Abroad; or, The New Pilgrims' Progress) A humorous travel narrative by Mark Twain, published in 1869 and based on Twain's letters to newspapers about his 1867 steamship voyage to Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land. The Innocents Abroad sharply satirized tourists who learn what they should see and feel by reading guidebooks. Assuming the role of a keen-eyed, shrewd Westerner, Twain was refreshingly honest and vivid in describing foreign scenes and his reactions to them. He alternated serious passages--history, statistics, description, explanation, argumentation--with risible ones. The humor itself was varied, sometimes in the vein of the Southwestern yarn spinners, sometimes in that of contemporaneous humorists such as Artemus Ward and Josh Billings, who chiefly used burlesque and parody and other verbal devices. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
“A classic work . . . [that] marks a critical point in the development of our literature.”—Leslie A. Fiedler --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (February 1, 1966)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451525027
• ISBN-13: 978-0451525024
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #570,823 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The funniest book ever written-in the history of time!, November 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Mark Twain : The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It (Library of America) (Hardcover)

Ok, maybe that is a minor overstatement, but this is one hilarous book, to be read by people who have travelled, who plan to travel, and generally, people who want to laugh. A lot.

The book is also surprising for its timeless points about the journeying of certain upper white, middle class people going on a grand tour of Europe. I frequently had to remind myself that it was written in 1869 because his observations and the behavior of his shipmates is so close to the way people I studied abroad with acted-only a few years ago.

Twain also puts those "cosmopolitan" people who claim to have traveled, but don't know anything about any place they have been but and just like to lord it over everyone else that they have "travelled" and you have not.

Reading this book is like listening to a very wise, old man tell you about his adventures. Its not like a book, more like one long conversation. Twain takes nothing seriously-not himself, his fellow travelers or the places they visit. The words are another adventure-sometimes, you know he is setting you up for something, other times he is serious for a while, then you end up in the middle of a joke.

I know this is against the rules, but the other posters who don't like this book-don't be so serious and p.c. all the time. Twain is making humorous observations, at a time when a different standard was acceptable. Not to mention, he does manage to get a few zingers in there about what people are willing to accept and what they do not.

You will laugh yourself silly and want to book a trip-not to Europe, just to anywhere, after reading this book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Douglas Adams? No, Mark Twain!, February 26, 2003

By	George R. Scott (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Innocents Abroad (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This book is amazing! Join the Quaker City Cruise voyagers and their meandering through Europe and the Holy Land. Mark Twain shows the haughty characteristics of American travellers that still thrive today.
Enticing imagery takes you to the turbulent Europe of 1867. Mark Twain satirizes everything under the sun from travel guides and long dead lovers to Michelangelo and the Old Masters to the Rennaissance and Venice to Israel and the Catholic Church. His bitter sarcasm and witticisms left me laughing out loud. Next to Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, this is the funniest book I have ever read. I can't think of any downsides to this amazing work by the greatest humorist that ever blessed the English language. Exceptional!
READ IT!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The more things change..., February 22, 2000

By A Customer

This book, written over 130 years ago, still captures the essense of a European or Middle East trip. The same tour guide rip-offs, ancient hatreds, true pieces of the cross etc. Twain describes the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as a place where armed guards have to separate the various sects so that the followers of the Prince of Peace don't murder each other. He compares the Sea of Galilee unfavorabby to Lake Tahoe, and he is right. His at time narrow minded American boorishness comes off as charming because he doesn't take himself or anything else seriously. Throw out Lonely Planet and Michelin. This is a must read before your next trip.