One of Twains Greatest! : This book–at times disjointed, rambling, self-referential, and irreverent–is decades ahead of its time. Its an interdisciplinarians dream as Twain takes on economics, geography, politics, ancient and contemporary history, and folklore with equal ease. Mostly though, one appreciates his knack for exaggeration, the tall tale, and the outright lie. Its a triumph of tone, as he lets you in on his wild wit, his keen observation, and his penchant for bending the truth without...
All of these selections in this volume were comosed between 1896 and 1905. Mark Twain wrote them after the disasters of the early and middle nineties that had included the decline into bankruptcy of his publishing business, the failure of the typsetting machine in which he invested heavily, and the death of his daughter Susy. Their principal fable is that of a man who has been long favored by luck while pursuing a dream of success that has seemed about to turn into reality. Sudden reverses occur...
