About the author
In 1835 Samuel Clemens was born in a small town on the
Mississippi river. He grew up with a love of story-telling
that would lead him to become one of America’s bestloved
writers, under the adopted name of Mark Twain.
Mark Twain started writing at an early age, taking a job
with a local newspaper before his curiosity took him
further afield. He experienced life as a soldier, goldminer
and riverboat pilot before his first successful story, Jim
Smiley and his Jumping Frog, was published in 1865.
Further short stories and writing of his many travels
abroad soon established Twain as a leading humorist. His
greatness as a writer became apparent with the publication
of his most famous novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884).
Both books are heavily influenced by Twain’s own
Mississippi childhood. Today these books are considered
to be two of the finest novels in the English language.
Although Twain was popular and influential as a writer,
his publishing business collapsed and his later years were
plagued by financial worry. This, as well as the death of
three of his children, brought a tone of bitterness and
cynicism to his later writing. To earn money, he went on
extensive lecture tours around the United States, which
made him even more popular with the American public.
He continued to write until his death in 1910. Today
Mark Twain is credited with helping to shape America’s
vision of itself and he is regarded as a national treasure.
Summary
This book contains eight short stories written by Mark
Twain. All but two of the stories are set in North America
during the second half of the nineteenth century and they