Based on Mark Twain’s first novel (co-authored with Charles Dudley Warner) MARK TWAIN'S THE GILDED AGE is an original play about Laura Hawkins, an alluring young woman who captivates Washington... More > society as a lobbyist in 1870, and then becomes a national sensation when she takes revenge on the cynical, sexist Confederate officer who robbed her of her innocence. Narrated by Colonel Beriah Sellers, one of Twain’s best drawn comic characters, the story exposes a society permeated by corruption, greed, and deceit at every level.< Less
The Essays are comprised in three sections. The first is "neophyte papers." These four essays were written in the mid 1980s when I began thinking about CS Lewis on paper in my limited way.... More > The second section, "Familiarizing Papers," contains two essays written for the course in humanities. This got me thinking of a dialogue, here called a Triologue, between Johannes Kepler, CS Lewis, and Mark Twain. Also a third essay, on fictionalizing Lewis, was written after the fact of the novel and published in Mythprint #341. The third section, "The Triologue," is devoted to essays written specifically for the thesis paper; and its project which ultimately extrapolated into the Travelogue. The hope to produce "Fantastic Travelogue: Mark Twain and CS Lewis Talk Things over in The Hereafter" was itself the raison d'être for the thesis paper. One of these essays was published in Extrapolation, Spring 2007. See also the digital version at Smashwords and various other online venues.< Less
If you thought you knew Mark Twain, then think again! Possibly the most famous American author and humorist of all time, his greatest works are those which were suppressed by his family for fear of... More > harming his reputation. All three are now presented for the first time in one volume, and consist of his biting appraisal of religion in Letters from the Earth, followed by his insight into the nature of man in What is Man, and the self-explanatory My First Lie, and How I Got Out of It.
Letters from earth consists of letters written by Satan about his observations on the curious proceedings of earthly life and the nature of man's religions. “This is a strange place, and extraordinary place, and interesting. The people are all insane, the other animals are all insane, the earth is insane, Nature itself is insane. Man is a marvelous curiosity. When he is at his very very best he is a sort of low grade nickel-plated angel; at is worst he is unspeakable, unimaginable."< Less
In 1879 Mark Twain meets the young painter John Singer Sargent aboard a steamer from the Sandwich Islands to San Francisco. But it is not our San Francisco, our California, or our 1879. In this... More > universe, everything south of the Russian River is an independent Spanish-speaking country called Alta California. Everything north of the river is Rossland, ruled by Imperial Russia. These powerful states are flush with Sierra gold, while the United States is just a weak neighbor on the other side of the Mississippi. Mark Twain is supplementing the meager royalties from Tom Sawyer by lecturing on "Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich islands." John Singer Sargent tours with him, sketching and painting the sights and trying to get a portrait commission from Twain. Told in the first person voices of Twain and Sargent, illustrated with their sketches, paintings and photos, this is a tale about friendship, ideology, culture clash, and what it means to be an artist.< Less
Paperback edition. This book uses a question-and-answer format. It poses, then answers, relevant questions about Twain, background information, and "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s... More > Court." This book goes through "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court" chapter by chapter. I recommend that you read the relevant section of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court," then read my comments, then go back and re-read the relevant section of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court." However, do what works for you.
Teachers may find this book useful as a discussion guide for the novel. Teachers can have students read chapters from the novel, then teachers can ask students selected questions from this book.< Less
Free download at http://stores.lulu.com/bruceb. This book uses a question-and-answer format. It poses, then answers, relevant questions about Twain, background information, and "A Connecticut... More > Yankee in King Arthur’s Court." This book goes through "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court" chapter by chapter. I recommend that you read the relevant section of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court," then read my comments, then go back and re-read the relevant section of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court." However, do what works for you.
Teachers may find this book useful as a discussion guide for the novel. Teachers can have students read chapters from the novel, then teachers can ask students selected questions from this book.< Less
In 1879 Mark Twain meets the young painter John Singer
Sargent aboard a steamer from the Sandwich Islands to San Francisco. But it is not our San Francisco, our California, or our 1879.
In this... More > universe, everything south of the Russian River is an independent Spanish-speaking country called Alta California. Everything north of the river is Rossland, ruled by Imperial Russia. These powerful states are flush with Sierra gold, while the United States is just a weak neighbor on the other side of the Mississippi.
Mark Twain is supplementing the meager royalties from Tom Sawyer by lecturing on “Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands.” John Singer Sargent tours with him, sketching and painting the sights and trying to get a portrait commission from Twain.
Told in the first person voices of Twain and Sargent, illustrated with their sketches, paintings and photos, this is a tale about friendship, ideology, culture clash, and what it means to be an artist.< Less
In 1879 Mark Twain meets the young painter John Singer
Sargent aboard a steamer from the Sandwich Islands to San Francisco. But it is not our San Francisco, our California, or our 1879.
In this... More > universe, everything south of the Russian River is an independent Spanish-speaking country called Alta California. Everything north of the river is Rossland, ruled by Imperial Russia. These powerful states are flush with Sierra gold, while the United States is just a weak neighbor on the other side of the Mississippi.
Mark Twain is supplementing the meager royalties from Tom Sawyer by lecturing on “Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands.” John Singer Sargent tours with him, sketching and painting the sights and trying to get a portrait commission from Twain.
Told in the first person voices of Twain and Sargent, illustrated with their sketches, paintings and photos, this is a tale about friendship, ideology, culture clash, and what it means to be an artist.< Less
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a very well-known and popular story concerning American youth. Mark Twain’s lively tale of the scrapes and adventures of boyhood is set in St. Petersburg,... More > Missouri, where Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry Finn have the kinds of adventures many boys can imagine: racing bugs during class, impressing girls, especially Becky Thatcher, with fights and stunts in the schoolyard, getting lost in a cave, and playing pirates on the Mississippi River. One of the most famous incidents in the book describes how Tom persuades his friends to do a boring, hateful chore for him: whitewashing (i.e., painting) a fence. This was the first novel to be written on a typewriter.< Less
