Visit Twain's World
A guide by Kathie Freeman, Confirmed Twainiac and author in her own right.
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First you need to know something about the antebellum South where Twain lived. Antebellum means pre-civil war, but of course, you knew that. An excellent book on the subject is
'America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink '
A well written book, almost a suspense novel. A good introduction to the events leading up to the Civil War, giving one a feel for the country's mindset.
Next, you need to read a little bit about the man himself. The name Mark Twain came from a Mississippi riverboat expression meaning “two fathoms deep", or 12 feet, referring to the depth of the river which was measured at regular intervals so the boats didn't run aground on the constantly shifting bottom. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but you knew that, too.
'The Autobiography of Mark Twain (Perennial Classics)'
In which he tells his own story. Written on his deathbed, Twain vowed to he "free and frank and unembarrassed" in the recounting of his life and his experiences.
'The Singular Mark Twain: A Biography'
Of course, a more objective recounting might be found in a third-party biography.
Kaplan shows him as an often irascible curmudgeon who employed his talent for sarcasm and satire to skewer the self-righteous, the hypocritical, and the predudiced.
Twain's books, in more or less chronological order:
'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches (1867) (The Oxford Mark Twain)'
27 sketches the author wrote while living in California and Nevada. The best know of them relates an elaborate story of an imaginative gambler who spent months training a frog to jump and then won money by betting on the frog, only to lose in the end to one even more devious than he.
'Innocents Abroad (Signet Classics)'
Twain's account of his journey through Europe and Palestine, and the experiences of the group of "Pilgrims" which accompanied him. No target is sacred, Paris, Florence, Damascus, even Jerusalem come in for their share of abuse.
'Roughing It (Mark Twain Library)'
Recounts his six years in Nevada, San Francisco, and the Sandwich Islands as a miner and journalist. If Twain's account is to be believed, he made and lost several fortunes in the gold fields before finally returning to his writing carreer.
'The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (Penguin Classics)'
Twain and his collaborator, Charles Dudley Warner, attack the greed, lust, and naivete of their own time in a work which endures as a valuable social document and one of America's most important satirical novels.
'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain Library)'
Loosely based on Mark Twain's own boyhood along the banks of the Mississippi during the 1840s, Tom Sawyer is easily his most popular work. The stories are memorable, Tom conning his playmates into whitewashing Aunt Polly's fence, Tom's puppy love for Becky Thatcher, and the terrifying episode of being lost in a cave with a murderer.
'A Tramp Abroad (Penguin Classics)'
A tongue-in-cheek description of a "walking tour" through Europe, though most of his journey is actually accomplished by coach, train, or vicariously through an agent. His account of his mountaineering expedition is hilarious, as is the voyage down the Neckar on a raft.
'The Prince and the Pauper (Signet Classics (Paperback))'
Set in sixteenth-century England, Mark Twain’s classic tale features two identical-looking boys, one poor, one enormously rich and spoiled, who trade clothes and step into each other’s lives.
'Life on the Mississippi'
An engrossing recollection of Mark Twain's early days as a steamboat pilot on America's geatest river, and documents the changes he finds returning after nearly 20 years.
'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Oxford World's Classics)'
The title character is a 13-year-old boy who flees his abusive father by rafting down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave, Jim. Along the way, Huck is constantly torn between his feelings of friendship for his traveling companion, and the conviction that he is doomed for aiding in his escape.
'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Bantam Classic)'
A blow to the head sends Hank Morgan back to the time of King Arthur, and places him in jeopardy of his life. Twain includes many well-known Arthurian characters in his tale as he intruduces 19th century technology into 13th century life.
'Puddnhead Wilson : And, Those Extraordinary Twins (The Penguin English Library)'
The first story concerns a mulatto slave who switches her infant son with her master’s baby so that no mattter what happens to her, her boy will be well-looked after. Grown to adulthood, he runs afoul of one Pudd’nhead Wilson, and something he calls "fingermarks", a collection of greasy stains on glass slides. The second story is a broad comedy about a pair of siamese twins joined at the hip with each side having the complete opposite philosophy and constitution than the other.
'Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Dover Thrift Editions)'
This historical novel chronicles Joan's childhood in Domremy, the story of her voices, the fight for Orleans, the march to Rheims, and her eventual demise. 'Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World (Dover Books on Travel, Adventure)'
Twain's account of circumnavigating the globe by steamship. Brimming with ironic, tongue-in-cheek humor, the book describes shark fishing in Australia, riding the rails in India, tiger hunting, diamond mining in South Africa and more.
'The War Prayer (Harper Colophon Books)'
Set against the backdrop of the Spanish-American War, The War Prayer tells of a patriotic church service held to send the town's young men off to war. During the service, a stranger enters and tells the patriotic crowd that by praying for victory they are also praying for the destruction of human life.
'King Leopold's Soliloquy'
Tht rule of King Leopold II of Belgium over the Congo Free State (now Zaire) and the colonization by the Belgians was a cruel and brutal one. In this "soliloquy" he attempts to justify his policies and actions to a sceptical world.
'What Is Man Lt'
Twain has created a dialogue comparble to that in Plato's The Republic.
'No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger (Twain, Mark//Mark Twain Library)'
A penniless printer's apprentice with the curious name 44 gradually reveals his mysterious powers and the hidden possibilities of the mind. Is he God or the Devil or just some terrifying conjurer?
'Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings (Perennial Classics)'
Twain presents events from the Garden of Eden through the Fall and the Flood, translating the papers of Adam and his descendants through the generations.
'Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain (Bantam Classic)'
'Nuff said.
'The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain: A Book of Quotations (Dover Thrift Editions)'
Hundreds of Twain’s most memorable quips and comments on life, love, history, culture, travel and diverse other topics, among them the classic "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please".
'Mark Twain's Helpful Hints for Good Living: A Handbook for the Damned Human Race'
The best collection of Mark Twain as social observer, moralist, and comic genius. If you are wrestling with how to advance stimulating dinner conversation, what to do with unwanted magazine subscriptions, how to deal with the 'odious flummery' of fashion, or whether or not to bring your dog to the next funeral, Twain is here to offer his gentle guidance.
'The Bible According to Mark Twain'
The works in this volume expand on biblical themes, and are as human as they are irreverent. |
Products mentioned include:
| 1. |  | America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink
by Kenneth M. Stampp
Average Customer Rating: 
| | | | 2. |  | The Autobiography of Mark Twain (Perennial Classics)
by Charles Neider
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 3. |  | The Singular Mark Twain: A Biography
by Fred Kaplan
Average Customer Rating: 
| | | | 4. | | The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches (1867) (The Oxford Mark Twain)
by Mark Twain, et al
Average Customer Rating: 
| | | | 5. |  | Innocents Abroad (Signet Classics)
by Mark Twain, Leslie A. Fiedler (Afterword)
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 6. |  | Roughing It (Mark Twain Library)
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 7. |  | The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (Penguin Classics)
by Mark Twain, et al
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 8. |  | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain Library)
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 9. |  | A Tramp Abroad (Penguin Classics)
by Mark Twain, et al
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 10. |  | The Prince and the Pauper (Signet Classics (Paperback))
by Mark Twain, Everett Emerson (Afterword)
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 11. |  | Life on the Mississippi
by Mark Twain, Justin Kaplan (Afterword)
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 12. |  | Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Oxford World's Classics)
by Mark Twain, Emory Elliott (Editor)
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 13. |  | A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Bantam Classic)
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating: 
| | | | 14. |  | Puddnhead Wilson : And, Those Extraordinary Twins (The Penguin English Library)
by Mark Twain, Malcolm Bradbury (Editor)
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 15. |  | Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 16. |  | Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World (Dover Books on Travel, Adventure)
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 17. |  | The War Prayer (Harper Colophon Books)
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 18. | | King Leopold's Soliloquy
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 19. | | What Is Man Lt
by Mark Twain
| | | | 20. |  | No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger (Twain, Mark//Mark Twain Library)
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 21. |  | Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings (Perennial Classics)
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 22. |  | Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain (Bantam Classic)
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 23. |  | The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain: A Book of Quotations (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 24. |  | Mark Twain's Helpful Hints for Good Living: A Handbook for the Damned Human Race
by Mark Twain
Average Customer Rating:
| | | | 25. |  | The Bible According to Mark Twain
by Joseph B. Mccullough, Howard G. Baetzhold (Editor)
Average Customer Rating:
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