Mark Twain on Travel

by Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by his loyal readership as Mark Twain, led a life as rich as his collection of published works. Over the span of a lifetime, his growth from a small-town Midwestern boy to a famed writer and lecturer was reflected in the dozens of positions he held in the literary field across the United States, in addition to about double the number of cities he roved through to get each job done.

"I began to get tired of staying in one place so long," wrote Twain in his work Roughing It . His readers are still reaping the benefits of his restlessness today. Here, in Mark Twain on Travel , is a collection of his ever-astute observations of nineteenth-century America and Europe, as he experienced them firsthand.

As if packed within his luggage or perched atop the pages of his journal, observe the humor in Twain''s best travel writing. Listen in on conversations with fellow wanderers, from big-city dwellers to steamboat captains. Never departing without pen and paper, Twain''s continual movements across the nation and its bordering oceans fueled him to share insights that made him an icon of American writing.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

278 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2005

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

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mort has taken highlights from MT's five travel books and turned them into a sampler, of sorts. His Introduction sets the tone/mood for this collection, reminds the reader of the complexities of Twain and provides some info on his personal life. This is a shortened version of MT's travels, as he often added "bulk to his books" for money, which sadly some publishers still encourage today.
I was overcome with nostalgia reading about the Big River, as I too grew up on the Mississippi. And as Twain rambles out west and around the world, so does his writing, often veering off course. But that is where his wit comes in, the fun parts.
Highly recommended for anyone wanting a condensed version or refresher course on Mark Twain.

[Marilyn Sue Michel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find the excerpts mostly bland and boring. I would recommend reading one of Twain's books over the excerpt idea. They highlight his faults without delivering much of a charge. The rhythm of a book depends on the whole book. Some of his idioms are difficult to decipher more than 150 years after he wrote them, I gave them a brief attempt at understanding but mostly just moved on. A great writer!

[Edmond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ramblings on and on of Mark Twain on his travels around the globe.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has snippets of Mark Twain's works on "travel", and so while I enjoyed the individual stories, I yearned for them in their entirety and in their context. I would say this book frustrates in that you wish you had not begun it and had just started reading Mark Twain himself. I gave it 2 stars because it has piqued my interest in Twain, and I shall endeavor to read all his books on his travels.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book - excerpts from the places Twain traveled when he was earning a living as a travel writer, and then a bit of other stuff. You really do get a feel for the places, and he writes with great dry humor with some sarcasm thrown in. Makes me wish I had been able to sit around and listen to him talk.

[Alix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting compilation of travel anecdotes not particularly captivating in its entirety but I love Twain's pen style and the almost orientalist depiction of foreign lands. A good read for travel lovers and wanderlust folk.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love mark twain - most of the time. some parts of his books bog down. therefore, this book is great cuz it is a collection of stories from his travel books. you get the good parts without the slow parts. you just gotta take everything with a grain of salt :)

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Twain is a very funny man and this was a very enjoyable look at his extensive travels and it follows a nice path around many parts of the world, giving a great pre-automobile look at travel.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories are more interesting than others, but the writing is fun, unique and clever.

[Jennifer]

everyone must read this book! it's amazing how traveling hasnt really changed, even with all the advances of the last 100 years. :)