Mark Twain: Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, and Essays: Volume 2: 1891-1910 (Library of America)

Customer Reviews:

Good enough to purchase twice!.......2006-05-04

I came across this book in a used bookstore on a college campus. I purchased it without more than a few quick page flips to see the type of content. It didn't really matter, though as Twain is my favorite author. The "student" who owned this book previously underlined several passages extensively, and sloppily at that. If they had spent time reading Twain instead of trying to underline every phrase, it might have made a difference. On the other hand, perhaps they were blind, and wanted to underling the important phrases. It makes half of the book virtually illegible. So I purchased it new from amazon.com, along with the first volume, which I am sure will be as delightful.

This is a wonderful book (reading the legible half), and is now one of my favorites. Twain's essays and humorous bits are hilarious, and provide an excellent view into his opinions and life. His piece on cigars is hilarious, and the Adam's Diary selection is a must read.

What a Character!.......2005-06-19

I've haven't even read one of Twain's novels, which no doubt makes me a heathen in the literary world, but I really enjoyed this collection of essays. Gosh, I would have loved to meet this guy. He seems as obnoxious as a professional wrestler, but has an uncanny talent for being right.

My favorite essay is, "A Cure For the Blues," where Twain endlessly rags on a popular author of the time. The guy may still be popular, I don't know, but Twain had plenty of reason to rag on him, and I really do consider Twain's critique to be a cure for the blues. It's hilarious.

Mark Twain means "Deep Enough".......2001-07-18

This book is a joy to read. Though not all the short works contained within are "classics", you will find satire, history, editorials, mischief, slices-of-life, without knowing by the title of any given work what you'll really be getting in the pages that follow (all part of Twain's desire to "stir the pot" and "zing" his readers)... As you will see from this book, Twain is not just a writer of the Mississippi River, but of Washington D.C., the Western U.S., Saloons, Trains, Parades, and much more. You won't be sorry with this high quality book.

Mark Twain at his best.......2000-07-15

Mark Twain is well known for his Mississippi Novels and Historical Romances but it's on his Tales and Sketches where you can find the commical genious in him. It's in my opinion that it's an age span wich makes you like the most Tom Sawyer (8-12), The Prince and the Pauper (13-16) or The Diary of Adam and Eve (18-) and yet, in his complete tales you may find contents of interest for all kinds of readers. And you will never find a better edition than the one that Library of America has to offer. Hardcover, cloth wrapping and alk. paper makes the reading an extra pleasure over the one Mark Teain already gives you. Love Twain and love the edition.

The Complete Humorous Sketches and Tales of Mark Twain

Average customer rating:

good quality,quick delivary ,high reliability.
The best ever intro to Mark Twain
A distressingly funny book, inappropriate for quiet areas

The Complete Humorous Sketches and Tales of Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0306807025

Customer Reviews:

good quality,quick delivary ,high reliability........2005-08-07

the book was at good condition,delivered quick,although the first book had been returned back to the vendor-the second shipment arrived quickly.I'll continue to by from Amazon. Thank you Amir

The best ever intro to Mark Twain.......2005-01-11

My dad had the original hardback edition of this book in the early 60's, when it was first compiled. I read this book dozens of times, to the point where the covers were torn off and pages were missing.

This softback is the reissue, and is marvelous. It is a compilation of short sketches taken from his novels, newspaper articles and other published sources.

If you are only looking for the "funny stuff" from Mark Twain, without reading the accompanied novels it is all here. "Curing a Cold" is an early stand alone sketch, while "Guying the Guide" comes from "Innocents Abroad." Both of these are worth the price of the book. After reading this, you might consider "The Unabridged Mark Twain, Vol. I and II."

A great companion to this book is the "Complete Essays of Mark Twain." You'll find much less familiar material of a mostly serious nature. Great essays dealing with mental telepathy, international events and one brilliant, touching essay called "The Death of Jean," Mark Twain's thoughts when he found that his adult, epileptic daughter had died.

These two books together make reading in short bursts very meaningful when you don't have the time to read the entire novel. They serve to document the genius of a writer only America could have produced.

A distressingly funny book, inappropriate for quiet areas.......1999-04-16

This collection features stories so humourous that there should be a warning for heart patients. Ranging from advice for "Curing a Cold" to an angry article "Concerning Chaimbermaids", this set of articles will provide so much laughter aerobics will be unneccessary during the duration of the reading.

Sketches, New and Old (1875) (Oxford Mark Twain)

Average customer rating:

Sketches, New and Old (1875) (Oxford Mark Twain)
Mark Twain , and Sherwood Cummings
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Comic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0195101359

Book Description

A real storyteller can make a great story out of anything, even the most trivial occurrence. Composed between 1863 and 1875, the sixty-three often outrageous sketches in Sketches, New and Old contain, for instance, a piece about the difficulty of getting a pocket watch repaired properly; complaints about barbers and office bores; and satirical comments on bureaucrats, courts of law, the profession of journalism, the claims of science, and the workings of government. In Mark Twain's hands, all these potentially dry and dull topics bristle with vitality and interest. "What fascinates Twain," Lee Smith writes in her introduction, is how people "react to the things that happen to them." Twain "lets them speak in their own voices by and large, in a chorus ranging from high-flown oratory to the plain speech of working people.... It seems generally true that the more elevated the speech, the likelier that person is to be an idiot; words of wisdom and common sense are invariably voiced by the common man"--or woman. "The most profound and moving sketch in this whole collection" Smith writes, is one "told by a freed slave." The candid, ironic, playful, and petulant sketches in this volume are indispensable to our understanding of a harried genius during thirteen quite amazing years.

Download Description

What I refer to is this: he says my jumping Frog is a funny story, but still he can't see why it should ever really convulse any one with laughter--and straightway proceeds to translate it into French in order to prove to his nation that there is nothing so very extravagantly funny about it. Just there is where my complaint originates. He has not translated it at all; he has simply mixed it all up.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches (1867) (The Oxford Mark Twain)

Average customer rating:

Can frogs really be "THAT" big?
excellent

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches (1867) (The Oxford Mark Twain)
Mark Twain , and Richard Bucci
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0195114000

Book Description

Out of print for well over a century, Mark Twain's first book features 27 devilish and quicksilver sketches the author wrote while living in California and Nevada.

Customer Reviews:

Can frogs really be "THAT" big?.......1999-01-23

Yes - they can. At Heights Elementary in Pittsburg California back 35 years ago or so we would have a jumping frog contest every year in the circles used for kick ball. All the kids would bring giant frogs and let them go from the center of the ring. OH MY! It was so much fun - all because of this book (I am still scared of frogs to this day) but I love the book and every kid should read it.

excellent.......1998-07-28

"Jumping Frog" is a wonderful, hilarious story (among a group of several other great ones) that my father read to me as a kid. If you love Twain, get it.

The Comic Mark Twain Reader: The Most Humorous Selections from His Stories, Sketches, Novels, Travel Books and Lectures

Average customer rating:

The Comic Mark Twain Reader: The Most Humorous Selections from His Stories, Sketches, Novels, Travel Books and Lectures
Mark Twain
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Humorous Stories and Sketches (Dover Thrift Editions)

Average customer rating:

Patchwork of Tales by the Bard of American Humor
Made me laugh out loud!
It's worth well over a buck.

Humorous Stories and Sketches (Dover Thrift Editions)
Mark Twain
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0486292797

Book Description

Eight entertaining tales, including the celebrated classic "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses," Twain's hilarious savaging of that author's style; as well as "Journalism in Tennessee," "About Barbers," "The Stolen White Elephant," "A Literary Nightmare,"

"How to Tell a Story," more.

Customer Reviews:

Patchwork of Tales by the Bard of American Humor.......2004-09-01

This delightful anthology of just 74 pages contains gems by the genius of truly American humor, who catapulted our literary style to international recognition. Finally, a master explains what makes American humor unique: it's not the subject Matter, but the Manner in which the humor is expressed-quite differently from the English and French styles. This is an excellent edition for beginners in the Classics as well as in American literature in general; the stories range in length from only five to twenty pages.

The editors have chosen a variety of settings and topics in this literary patchwork of Twainiana; from California's Gold Country with its famous frog-jumping contest, to a newspaper office in shoot-`em-up Tennessee. Twain explains the dangers inherent in regularly visiting a barber shop; he reveals his earliest attempt at Civil War soldiering; he includes the mystery of a stolen elephant, solved by the competent mind of a New York City Inspector. Not everything is totally amusing, however, as he delves into literary realms as well; he blasts the underserved fame of James Fenimore Cooper, and concludes with earnest advice to writers how to render their stories Humorous--not just funny, witty or silly. This collection is Vintage Twin in a slender package. Kids of all ages should read and enjoy this book; it will only whet your appetite for more Twain fare!

Made me laugh out loud!.......2003-05-04

"Humorous Stories and Sketches," be Mark Twain, brings together 8 comic gems by this giant of American literature. At around 80 pages this Dover edition may be small in size, but it's big in laughs and wit.

The 8 pieces are "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," "Journalism in Tennessee," "About Barbers," "A Literary Nightmare," "The Stolen White Elephant," "The Private History of a Campaign that Failed," "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses," and "How to Tell a Story." Twain satirizes gamblers, journalists, police detectives, international diplomacy, the military, and other things.

Particularly effective is the Civil War narrative "The Private History"; it's funny and bitingly satirical, but also surprisingly poignant as Twain reflects on the brutality of war. For laugh-out-loud funny, however, the elephant story is my favorite. A perfect book both for literature courses or just for individual pleasure reading.

It's worth well over a buck........2000-12-06

But that, amazingly enough, is all it costs. I don't know how Dover does it, but I'm glad they do.

This probably should really get 3 1/2 stars; it's better than a "three", but I can't quite bring myself to give it four.

There are eight short pieces by Twain; there's "The Notorious Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County", doubtless the most famous story here, and "Journalism in Tennessee", a marvellous exaggeration of cutthroat frontier journalism that is, as so much of Twain's work is, reminiscent of Dickens. Then there's "About Barbers", which starts as a commentary on what we now call Murphy's Law, and then moves on to complain of barbers who are intent on cutting the customer's hair the way THEY want it, and to blazes with what the customer wants -- a complaint that seems still relevant even today. Then follows another story with a point unaffected by the passage of time: "A Literary Nightmare", a complaint about advertising jingles that cannot be driven out of the brain with an icepick. Then we have "The Stolen White Elephant", in which Twain directs his satire at the deductive powers of would-be Sherlock Holmeses, and a self-deprecatory tale of his own foolishness during the Civil War ("The Private History of a Campaign That Failed"). Next up is my personal favorite, "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences", in which he gives elaborate reasons, in great detail, why he disagrees with the common wisdom that James Fenimore Cooper is a great writer (or, for that matter, can write at all.) (Perhaps I should find "Pathfinder" and "Deerslayer" on the book list here, and transcribe his comments.) And he closes with "How To Tell A Story", in which he gives advice that seems to me to be good advice for would-be stand-up comics.

Amazon.com

Samuel Clemens still stuns in whatever form he chooses--the fable, the essay, the speech, sketch, or one-liner ("The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice."). This fine collection features several hilarious pieces, including a story in the early, lighter section by "Grandfather Twain"--about "a bad little boy, whose name was Jim--though, if you will notice, you will find that bad little boys are nearly always called James in your Sunday-school books.... He didn't have a sick mother either--a sick mother who was pious and had the consumption, and would be glad to lie down in the grave and be at rest, but for the strong love she bore her boy ..." In his later years, though parody and bleak humor abound, Twain extended his range from animal rights to anti-imperialism, from bitterness to despair. "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" remains a powerful, immediate indictment of America's colonial annexation of the Philippines. His suggested flag for the province? Just the usual one, "with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by the skull and cross-bones."

Customer Reviews:

The humor that redeems .......2005-10-31

This is a varied collection of the writings of American's greatest humorist. It contains many of his most well- known short pieces from the devastating critique of Fenimore - Cooper to 'The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg'. It contains newspaper reportage, short stories, literary essays, excerpts from his books.
In almost all that he writes his great humor keeps us smiling, laughing and reading.

Cannibalism in the Cars: And Other Humorous Sketches (Prion Humor Classics)

Average customer rating:

A "must" for all Mark Twain fans!

Cannibalism in the Cars: And Other Humorous Sketches (Prion Humor Classics)
Mark Twain
Manufacturer: Prion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Accessories | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Classic Cars | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1853753696

Book Description

Mark Twain is the rambunctious father of all cynics. His wry observations and biting jibes made him the first modern humorist. His sardonic sketches on everything from politicians, preachers, journalists, barbers, nagging wives, devious children, and gullible low-lifes are as hilarious and true today as they were when Twain hammered them out to make a name for himself on the frontier newspapers in the 1870s. Though humor saturates all his best-loved work, it is in the freewheeling exuberance of these early sketches and yarns that his love of pranks, hoaxes, yarns, slapstick, and parodies is shown to best effect. Throughout these tales, the violence, cruelty, and plum stupidity of human nature is woven into comic gold as he makes us roar with laughter at our own idiotic self-deception and vain conceit.

Customer Reviews:

A "must" for all Mark Twain fans!.......2000-07-03

These literary, humorous sketches may be difficult to easily categorize but any with an appreciation for Mark Twain's wry sense of observation will find this an engrossing gathering of sardonic observations of everyday people. Cannibalism in the Cars focuses on Mark Twain's early sketches, many now available only here.

Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs: Late of the Tallapoosa Volunteers; Together with Taking the Census and Other Alabama Sketches (Library Alabama Classics)

Average customer rating:

Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs: Late of the Tallapoosa Volunteers; Together with Taking the Census and Other Alabama Sketches (Library Alabama Classics)
J. Hooper
Manufacturer: University Alabama Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Comic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Dover Thrift Editions)

ASIN: 0817307060

Average customer rating:

Armed Services editions
Stephen Leacock
Manufacturer: Editions for the Armed Services
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books