The American Claimant: Pudd'nhead Wilson

by Mark Twain

The American Claimant - Pudd'nhead Wilson is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1892. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Genres: Classics, Fiction

356 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.

Reviews

[Mateo Tomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot recall ever reading anything funnier. This would have been a perfect Mel Brooks and Zero Mostel play/film as Sellers/Rossmore and Hawkins.

[Adam Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first story, "The American Claimant", may be more deserving of 4 stars. It follows a British heir who comes to America to live without his family's legacy defining him. In typical Twain fashion, this American Claimant ends up in a rather odd series of events to threaten his reputation in society. In any case, the strength of the novel is questioning the real worth of titles and heirdoms where a person could be more worthwhile without them.

The second story, "Pudd'nhead Wilson", is definitely one of Twain's best works. Wilson is the titular character but the main of the book looks to Tom/Chambers. He is a slave (1/32 black) switched after birth with his master's son and raised as that son. Later on, he comes to know his heritage and gets involved in plots to enrich himself and damage others. Wilson is the one, thought an idiot by those who don't understand him, who uses the newly developed forensic science of fingerprinting to exonerate his legal clients. Twain looks to what parts race play in character and general behaviour, suggesting that nurturing has a larger part to play than nature.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A style unto itself.

[Larry Hostetler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Twain (Mark, not Shania) novel seemed a bit light-weight to me. I enjoyed his introduction and appendix, and the story was easy to read, with some humor. But there seemed to be too much caricature unnecessary to the story. Either the story lacked or the character development was overdone.

Finished reading Pudd'nhead Wilson today (first book of 2013). MUCH better than The American Claimant; it provided insight into slavery (from a white southern perspective) and also was a murder mystery. I rate it as at least 4, and would like to give it a 4.5 if allowed. The headings to each chapter, ostensibly adages from Pudd'nhead Wilson's calendar, add both to the story and to general interest.

[Cws]

JAR6-Twa

[Jamie Eberle]

Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain