Introduction


Mark Twain

Mark Twain himself was Twain’s first successful work of fiction. Born in 1835 as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Twain worked as a river boat captain on the Mississippi while a young man. When the pilots called out the depth of the river, “mark twain” meant that the river was two fathoms deep. A master of vernacular English, Twain eventually traveled all over America (and beyond), paying attention to how people really spoke and what really entertained them. He published poetry, jokes, tall tales, nonfiction, and, of course, some of the greatest novels in American history. His characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn seem to capture the meaning of boyhood, America, and life on the wild Mississippi River.

Essential Facts

  1. Twain grew up in Missouri, a slave state. However, when the Civil War broke out, Missouri didn’t join the Confederacy, so Twain and some friends formed a militia to fight on the Confederate side. This lasted until the first battle. When a man was killed, Twain deserted.
  2. Twain was a successful lecturer, generating money and fame via speaking tours throughout the United States and Europe.
  3. When Twain disliked you, you knew it. His essay “Fennimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses” does an entertainingly malicious job of taking apart the author of Last of the Mohicans.
  4. Twain made lots of money, but he lost most of it. He was as bad at investing as he was good at writing, and he eventually had to declare bankruptcy.
  5. Ernest Hemingway once said, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.”
 

Recommended Resources

  1. Mark Twain Author Guide
  2. Mark Twain's Book for Bad Boys and Girls - Magill Book Review
  3. Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 4 - Magill Book Review
  4. Mark Twain: A Writer's Life Criticism
  5. Pudd'nhead Wilson Lesson Plans
  6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Study Guide (eNotes)
  7. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer eText

All Resources

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  1. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - Magill Book Review
  2. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court eText
  3. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Literary Characters
  4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Study Guide
  5. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Censorship
  6. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Literary Characters
  7. Connecticut Yankee Lesson Plans
  8. Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction
  9. Cyclopedia of World Authors
  10. Dictionary of World Biography: The 19th Century
  11. Dictionary of World Biography: The 19th Century
  12. Getting to Be Mark Twain - Magill Book Review
  13. he Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Lesson Plans
  14. Juvenile and Young Adult Biography Series
  15. Mark Twain - Magill Book Review
  16. Mark Twain A to Z - Magill Book Review
  17. Mark Twain A to Z - Magill's Literary Annual
  18. Mark Twain and Me (1991)
  19. Mark Twain and Orion Clemens - Magill Book Review
  20. Mark Twain Author Guide
  21. Mark Twain Censorship
  22. Mark Twain Critical Survey of Long Fiction
  23. Mark Twain Critical Survey of Short Fiction
  24. Mark Twain's Book for Bad Boys and Girls - Magill Book Review
  25. Mark Twain's Letters - Magill's Literary Annual
  26. Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 4 - Magill Book Review
  27. Mark Twain: A Writer's Life Criticism
  28. No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger eText
  29. No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger Study Guide
  30. Pudd'nhead Wilson Lesson Plans
  31. Spunkwater, Spunkwater! Masterplot
  32. Spunkwater, Spunkwater!: A Life of Mark Twain quickNotes
  33. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
  34. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960)
  35. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1978)
  36. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1985)
  37. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
  38. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Criticism
  39. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn eText
  40. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Movie Learning Guide
  41. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Study Guide (eNotes)
  42. The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
  43. The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985)
  44. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Magill Book Review
  45. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
  46. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer eText
  47. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Lesson Plans
  48. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Literary Characters
  49. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Study Guide
  50. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Criticism
  51. The Cambridge Companion to Mark Twain - Magill Book Review
  52. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County - Magill Book Review
  53. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County eText
  54. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Short Story Criticism
  55. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Study Guide
  56. The Courtship of Olivia Langdon and Mark Twain - Magill Book Review
  57. The Invalid's Story eText
  58. The Invalid's Story Study Guide
  59. The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg eText
  60. The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg Masterplot
  61. The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg Study Guide
  62. The Mysterious Stranger Short Story Criticism
  63. The Oxford Companion to American Literature Artile on Mark Twain
  64. The Oxford Companion to English Literature Article on Mark Twain
  65. The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain - Magill Book Review
  66. The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare Article on Mark Twain
  67. The Prince and the Pauper Lesson Plans
  68. The Quotable Mark Twain - Magill Book Review
  69. The Science Fiction of Mark Twain
  70. U.S. Immigration and Migration Primary Sources