Letters From The Earth

"The most impressive contribution to books by Mark Twain since The Mysterious Stranger of 1916 ...The attitude is that of Swift, the intellectual contempt is that of Voltaire, and the imagination is that of one of the great masters of American writing."--New York Times Book Review Virtually none of the material in Letters from the Earth was published in Twain''s lifetime and the manuscript was only approved by his executors in 1962. This is vintage Twain--sharp, witty, imaginative, wildly funny. His voice is as vigorous and blistering as ever, capable of surprising truth and provoking laughter in the most unlikely places. In this collection, he presents himself as the Father of History, reviewing and interpreting events from the garden of Eden through the Fall and the Flood, translating the papers of Adam and his descendants down through the generations. There are comments on James Fenimore Cooper, English architecture, and the civilization of the French, as well as proposals for a simplified alphabet and a parody of books on etiquette. Letters from the Earth an exuberantly eclectic collection.

About the author

Mark Twain, who was born Samuel L. Clemens in Missouri in 1835, wrote some of the most enduring works of literature of American fiction, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He died in 1910.

Product details

• Authors: B De Voto, M Twain, Mark Twain
• Publisher: Harper Perennial USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 17.02.2004
• EAN: 9780060518653
• ISBN: 978-0-06-051865-3
• No. of pages: 336
• Dimensions: 135 mm x 205 mm x 22 mm
• Series: Perennial Classics
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; NATURE: Essays, FICTION: Short Stories (single author), RELIGION: Spirituality, LITERARY COLLECTIONS: American / General, LITERARY COLLECTIONS: Letters, HARPER PERENNIAL CLASSICS: AUTOBIOGRAPHY & BIO, HUMOR: Topic / Religion, RELIGION: Essays, LITERARY CRITICISM: Subjects & Themes / Religion