Mark Twain

1835 - 1910 *

American writer and humourist, whose adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer won him worldwide acclaim

American writer, journalist, humorist, who won a worldwide audience for his stories of youthful adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Sensitive to the sound of language, Twain introduced colloquial speech into American fiction. In Green Hills of Africa, Ernest Hemingway wrote: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn..."

"When I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi River. That was, to be a steamboatman." (from 'Old Times on the Mississippi', 1... [read entire biography]

          Source: Public Domain

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These essays offer analysis of the author's life and work. Many of them have been submitted by users, and are assigned an editorial rating on a scale from one to five stars to assist you in evaluating their worth. See also: Note on Essays, Editorial Policy.

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Twain, Tom, Huck and Joan of Arc -- Biographical information on Twain with some analysis of his Joan of Arc.
By James Lindsay, Masters Student	Editorial Rating:

Huck v Tom in Huckleberry Finn -- compare and contrast Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer
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Miscellaneous

		Mark Twain FAQ's -- A compilation of frequently asked questions regarding Mark Twain. http://users.telerama.com/~joseph/mtwain... Editorial Rating: Number of Visitors: 33 1 users have rated it an average of 4 stars     [rate it] Excellent Twain Site -- A site containing not only the etext of most of Twain's works, but pictures, bibliographies, literary criticisms and all manner of useful information, plus great links. http://www.boondocksnet.com/twainwww/ Editorial Rating: Number of Visitors: 104 0 users have rated it an average of 0 stars     [rate it] Ever The Twain Shall Meet -- A collection of works by Mark Twain. http://users.telerama.com/~joseph/mtwain... Editorial Rating: Number of Visitors: 22 0 users have rated it an average of 0 stars     [rate it]

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This is petrified truth. -- A Complaint about Correspondents.

Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Twain

This poor little one-horse town. -- The Undertaker's Story.

Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Twain

They spell it Vinci and pronounce it Vinchy; foreigners always spell better than they pronounce. -- The Innocents Abroad.

Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Twain

Conductor, when you receive a fare,
Punch in the presence of the passenjare:
A blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare,
A buff trip slip for a six-cent fare,
A pink trip slip for a three-cent fare,
Punch in the presence of the passenjare!


Chorus:
Punch, brothers, punch with care!
Punch in the presence of the passenjare. -- Punch, Brothers, punch.

Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Twain

He is now fast rising from affluence to poverty. -- Henry Ward Beecher's Farm.

Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Twain

Barring that natural expression of villainy which we all have, the man looked honest enough. -- A mysterious Visit.

Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Twain

An experienced, industrious, ambitious, and often quite picturesque liar. -- My military Campaign.

Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Twain

When I'm playful, I use the meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude for a seine, and drag the Atlantic ocean for whales. I scratch my head with the lightning and purr myself to sleep with the thunder. -- Life on the Mississippi.

Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Twain

There is a sumptuous variety about the New England weather that compels the stranger's admiration--and regret. The weather is always doing something there; always attending strictly to business; always getting up new designs and trying them on people to see how they will go. But it gets through more business in Spring than in any other season. In the Spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of twenty-four hours. -- New England Weather (Speech at dinner of New England Society. New York, Dec. 22, 1876.)

Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Twain

Probable nor'-east to sou'-west winds, varying to the southard and westard and eastard and points between; high and low barometer, sweeping round from place to place; probable areas of rain, snow, hail, and drought, succeeded or preceded by earthquakes with thunder and lightning. -- New England Weather (Speech at dinner of New England Society. New York, Dec. 22, 1876.)

Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Twain

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* Some dates of birth and death are approximated. If this is the case, see note at the end of biography, above. Dates of birth and death are AD, unless otherwise specified.