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109th out of 1,167 books
—
878 voters
The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain
by
Mark Twain
For deft plotting, riotous inventiveness, unforgettable characters, and language that brilliantly captures the lively rhythms of American speech, no American writer comes close to Mark Twain. This sparkling anthology covers the entire span of Twain’s inimitable yarn-spinning, from his early broad comedy to the biting satire of his later years.
Every one of his sixty stories...more
Every one of his sixty stories...more
Paperback, 848 pages
Published
March 1st 1984
by Bantam Classics
(first published 1910)
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I started reading this collection as my bedtime reading just after the start of the new year; it took me this long to read the book because Mark Twain wrote a lot of short fiction. I very much enjoyed my reading, and only wish that Twain had not become somewhat bitter as he grew older.
The Introduction to the volume, by Charles Neider, is rather dated (written in 1957), but a good preface to Twain’s writing. The stories begin, of course, with “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, and...more
The Introduction to the volume, by Charles Neider, is rather dated (written in 1957), but a good preface to Twain’s writing. The stories begin, of course, with “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, and...more
To be honest, this was sort of a "desperation" book; one of many that I've picked up from the three for a dollar room at the Boston Book Annex, which is down the street.
At three for a buck I can pick up all sorts of odd books that I wouldn't normally try. The Twain book doesn't really fall into that category, of course; I've read a fair amount of Twain. But the thing about this edition was that it was over 600 pages long with small type; it was very compact.
Anyway, I grabbed the Twain collection...more
At three for a buck I can pick up all sorts of odd books that I wouldn't normally try. The Twain book doesn't really fall into that category, of course; I've read a fair amount of Twain. But the thing about this edition was that it was over 600 pages long with small type; it was very compact.
Anyway, I grabbed the Twain collection...more
It is hard to write a review of a book by one of the most famous writers of all time (in any language), especially since literally criticism is not exactly my forte. So I’ll try to make this review brief.
Mark Twain is best known for his long novels, especially Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, but he was also a master of that quintessentially American genre of short story writing. Some of the stories in this collection are indeed masterpieces, and have for years been included in most short ficti...more
Mark Twain is best known for his long novels, especially Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, but he was also a master of that quintessentially American genre of short story writing. Some of the stories in this collection are indeed masterpieces, and have for years been included in most short ficti...more
For anyone who’s grown up in the United States, you’ve more than likely been exposed to Mark Twain in one form or another, whether it’s having read one or more of his books in high school, seeing a biographical story about him on TV, or hearing one of the many hundreds of references about him; to many his is the quintessential “Great American Author.” And just a little over a century after his passing, Everyman’s Library has released a beautiful hardcover edition collecting all of his short stor...more
All of Mark Twain's stories read all at once was a bit too much. He is so sarcastic that after reading one story after another you begin to feel this negative vibe for the world. Some of his short stories standing on their own were excellent. I enjoyed, A Day at Niagara, Journalism in Tennessee, A Medieval Romance and Buck Fanshaw's Funeral to name a few. Most of the ones I enjoyed, were written early on in Mark Twain's career. My least favorites came at the end when he seemed to become so negat...more
Mark Twain is still one of the funniest story-tellers a century after his death. He had a keen knowledge of people and their oddities as well as the obsurdity of modern society. His "Journalism in Tennessee" may be one of the funniest stories I've ever read, especially because I spent many an hour reading microfilmed 1850s newspapers from Tennessee and the rest of the South for my disseration. Twain perfectly summed up the combativeness of those firey and verbally inventive 19th century editors...more
It was fun to read some stories from Mark Twain now that I live so close to where he lived part of his life but I have to confess, I'm not a big fan of short stories in general. These were interesting to read - and you could definitely see an evolution in his life in the style and content of his writing. His earlier stories were much lighter and more humorous than the later stories which made sense given that he lost 3 out of 4 children and his wife before he died. His very last story, published...more
Feb 23, 2013
Kurt
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Kurt by:
Amazon Vine
(I wrote a positive review for the Amazon Vine program because the Amazon community tends to leave harsh comments on negative reviews, but this Goodreads review will highlight all of the good points I honestly shared.. with more balance on how bad the bad parts were)
Seriously, this is over 700 pages of folksy humor and wisdom. No one needs that much Mark Twain except serious scholars, and the rest of us will be fine flipping through this and enjoying a few stories before displaying it on a shelf...more
Seriously, this is over 700 pages of folksy humor and wisdom. No one needs that much Mark Twain except serious scholars, and the rest of us will be fine flipping through this and enjoying a few stories before displaying it on a shelf...more
3 likes · like · see review
I was one of those rare people that had somehow never read an actual Twain book. I remember there was a man dressed as Twain who came to our school and did his one man show, that was about the length of my knowledge. My high school AP english teacher got me addicted to finding quotations and I started a binder for them after years of collecting and noticed quite a few were from Twain. So, finally, when my son was born, I went out and bought Huckberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer, but grabbed this book f...more
Oct 19, 2007
Nick
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anybody who loves to read a short 20 minute story
so far the book has had some weird stories but they are all completely understandable. they have had some very interesting stories. in the first story i had read, the title had given me a bit of a hint as to what the story was to be about. it had contained the word cannibal, which had me a little shocked but i had read on knowing that it would be a good story because it was written by mark twain. as the story unfolds i am hinted to the fact that people are being sacrificed i beleive for just on...more
Sep 18, 2012
Jay Winters
is currently reading it
Book Opening: This hefty little anthology has been sitting on my bookshelf daring me to take it down. All in all, there are 60 short stories ranging from a few pages to a few more. It has been a while since I've read this master of American prose, and I'm ready for some of the down to earth but literary old master's words. If I do grow tired of the 814 pages of text, I can always take a break in the middle - it's just a bunch of short stories after all. Here we go!
The story California tale was very interesting and delightful because of its use of foreshadowing and how it draws you in just to twist the story and turn it on its head. In multiple cases in this story I felt like i knew what was going to happen and in the end everything I had thought was completely altered and the emotion of the story was almost devine. I personally really enjoyed the California tale and in the end i would recomend it to most if not all of my friends.
Before great artists such as Kurt Vonnegut, Louis CK, George Carlin, the Coen Brothers, Flannery O’Connor, Harper Lee, Richard Pryor, Charlie Kaufman, Buster Keaton… there was grandfather Twain to beget them. All American literature, and most world literature, gets filtered through these pages.
Gopnik's intro could be a lot better, and I get the feeling that if Twain had written for the New Yorker, Gopnik would have been more interested in writing the intro.
Gopnik's intro could be a lot better, and I get the feeling that if Twain had written for the New Yorker, Gopnik would have been more interested in writing the intro.
This was a lot of fun to read, although many of the stories I had already read in "The Mysterious Stranger and Other Tales" and "The Bible According to Mark Twain."
My only complaint about this is that the stories are presented as chronologically as possible - which is all well and good, but as Twain got older and his writing progressed, he also got more and more bitter. So, as a read, it starts off hilarious and fun and light-hearted and then, about halfway through, the stories start getting mor...more
My only complaint about this is that the stories are presented as chronologically as possible - which is all well and good, but as Twain got older and his writing progressed, he also got more and more bitter. So, as a read, it starts off hilarious and fun and light-hearted and then, about halfway through, the stories start getting mor...more
It's hard to rate a book containing every short story an author has ever written. Most of them seem to make no sense, mostly because I am so removed from Mark Twain's time. It also seems quite obvious that many of the stories were simply churned out for the newspaper. The most enjoyable part about reading his stories in their publishing order is seeing his progression deeper into misanthropy. In general the stories tend to get longer and longer, and the veil hiding Twain's disgust for mankind ge...more
It took months, and I read a few books in between, but I finally finished this one. It amazes me how different today's short stories are compared to those of the past. In some ways, I'm glad for the change, and in others--I'm tending to agree with Bradbury more and more: Many are simply slice-of-life garbage.
Twain knew how to tell a story--I would've loved to HEAR him do so. His voice is so strong, yet he can change it with the drop of a hat. He can make you laugh and cry within the same page,...more
Twain knew how to tell a story--I would've loved to HEAR him do so. His voice is so strong, yet he can change it with the drop of a hat. He can make you laugh and cry within the same page,...more
A lot of material, and I chose to tackle it in chunks over a couple months because otherwise the stories got monotonous. There are some real gems among these 60: a hilarious lambast of Niagara tourism in "A Day at Niagara;" poking fun at feminine hysterics in "Experience of the McWilliamses with Membranous Croup;" a parody of justice and fairness in "Edward Mills and George Benton: A Tale;" and a comic dismantling of military honor in "Luck." I was particularly pleased with his later stories, as...more
While all of these stories are well-written, don't expect to see nothing but comedies. As Twain grew older, he became more and more embittered. Some of these tales are down-right horrific (esp. if you love animals). Still, discovering the delightful "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven" was a pleasant surprise.
I wondered as a child how he wrote as to he was considered aa master of short stories. I started with ' The jumping frog of the Calaverous county' and. It just left me asking for more. So as they say, I read on and on. ending only for food and nature call. One of the most cherished reads and literally satisfying.
What I read was actually a very collection of short stories by Mark Twain. I amy come an edit this particular if I find another book closer to the collection I read. These were all short stories, just a few I did not enjoy so much, but the rest of the book was such fun to read. Such an entertaining story teller!!
Jul 24, 2008
John Wiswell
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Humor readers, literary readers, classics readers
Twain explored the gamut of subjects in short stories. There are very serious, touching tales, like the reflections of a slave on his painless but joyless life. There are quirky and absurd stories, like the opening one narrated by a blue jay. There's a wealth of humor, from small-time scams like "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," to the civilized politics of cannibalism discussed by senators stuck under an avalanche in "Cannibalism in the Cars." The longer stories tend to be more...more
Wit, humor, observations and comments on life--reading Mark Twain's shorter writings entertains and educates. It's fun to read what interests one at the moment and not read from front to back as one usually reads a book.
What a range--from fun adventure to humorous, gently satirical stories, to bitingly bitter pieces from a "pen warmed up in hell" ! These stories really show Twain in all of his moods, and are really fun reading.
My edition is different than the one pictured but it won't scan.
These short stories are so much fun to read. So far, my two favourites are "A Day at Niagara" and "The Diary of Adam and Eve."
These short stories are so much fun to read. So far, my two favourites are "A Day at Niagara" and "The Diary of Adam and Eve."
I have read this book several times. It is undoubtedly the funniest book I have ever read (parts of it)
I would lay in bed crying it was so funny. The same thing when I read it the second time.
I would lay in bed crying it was so funny. The same thing when I read it the second time.
I did not read all of the short stories, although over the years, I have read several. I found the stories that we chose for book club to be rather depressing. We read the last story in the book (something with Frogs in the Title). Clearly by this time in Mark Twain's life he was struggling with life and depression. The stories give a good idea of life in America during his era, and the language they used then, but are not riveting. Although he is an acclaimed American author, I don't find much...more
There is something to be said for avoiding reading stale comedy. I can understand how this book would have been a huge hit in its day, but doesn't quite hold up for the 2000s.
I had to read these for my book club, and I have to admit that I did it very reluctantly, but I found that I really enjoyed his stories and they gave me a lot of food for thought.
Really enjoyed many of the stories in this collection. Some of them had me laughing out loud, although some were dry and uninteresting. However, overall a great read!
Some real gems among some bland, but the gems make it worth one's time to sift through the mediocre fare. Result: rolling in the aisle in fits of hysterics.
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Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also work...more
More about Mark Twain...
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also work...more
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Feb 23, 2013 05:48pm