The second of two new hardcover volumes collecting the major nonfiction writings of the "father of American literature," including excerpts from the rollicking, shrewd, and hilarious autobiographical works, "The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, A Tramp Abroad, "and "Life on the Mississippi. "An Everyman's Library Original.
Volume 2 of Twain's "Collected Nonfiction "contains selections from four of Twain's full-length books documenting his travels across the country and the world, including original frontispieces. In these texts we follow Twain from his early days out west as a fledgling reporter to his attempts at fulfilling a lifelong dream of being a steamboat captain on the Mississippi to his extensive sojourns abroad, where, along with the American "pilgrims" of the Gilded Age, he toured historic streets, cathedrals, and caves--viewing with disgust as often as with awe the relics of humanity's past. And although these events took place, and were published, at different stages of his life and career, Twain consistently lent his trademark wit, candor, and acerbic sarcasm to all he experienced. Here are adventures often too outrageous not to be true, tracing the growth of the writer who came to define a country and an age--and of the man whose keen awareness of humanity has provided an unmatched blend of entertainment and moral integrity for generations.