It's a kind of humour that one may find in a celebrated British author of the same period (1880s) such as Jerome Klapka Jerome, but Twain adds up his American touch: the exaggeration of likelihood. Or perhaps it's just me having read "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" when I was a kid and getting bored to death with all that exhausting fence painting business and that haughty Becky Thatcher.Īnd yet "A Tramp Abroad" is funny, witty and it's clear how Twain got amused in writing some of its pages. One cannot wonder that Mark Twain was so funny a writer. Well, "A Tramp Abroad" revolves around pretty much the same topic of "Innocents Abroad" which is Mr Twain touring Europe proud of being an American but at the same time eager to get all that the Old Continent has to offer to his transatlantic eyes.Ī very good reason to grab this book is its humour. What I thought I had found was actually "Innocents Abroad" by the same Mark Twain, but somehow the word "tramp" was left out of my raptorous glance. I bought this book by mistake in one of those charity shops that make any idle and rainy Saturday in Oxford a treasure hunt. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age", and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature". Twain worked hard to ensure that all of his creditors were paid in full, even though his bankruptcy had relieved him of the legal responsibility.īorn during a visit by Halley's Comet, he died on its return. With the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers, however, he eventually overcame his financial troubles. Though he made a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he squandered it on various ventures, in particular the Paige Compositor, and was forced to declare bankruptcy. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty. He achieved great success as a writer and public speaker. While a reporter, he wrote a humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," which proved to be very popular and brought him nationwide attention. He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to journalism. After toiling as a printer in various cities, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, before heading west to join Orion. He also worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He is noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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