Mark Twain
1) A Dog's Tale
In this literary smackdown, one giant of American literature thoroughly demolishes the literary output of another. With his trademark plainspoken wit, Mark Twain presents a catalog of everything he hates about the work of James Fenimore Cooper, author of such classics as The Last of the Mohicans. Whether you're Team Twain or Team Fenimore Cooper, you're sure to be entertained by this cutting takedown.
"Twain will begin to seem strange again, alluring and still astonishing . . . in ways that still resonate with us."—New York Times
"A pointillist masterpiece from which his vision of America—half paradise, half swindle—emerges with indelible force."—Publishers Weekly...
On the Decay of the Art of Lying is a short essay by Mark Twain from 1885. In it he deplores that way man's "most faithful friend" is being used and indeed misused, declaring that "the wise thing is for us diligently to train ourselves to lie thoughtfully, judiciously; to lie with a good object, and not an evil one; to lie for others' advantage, and not our own; to lie healingly, charitably, humanely, not cruelly, hurtfully, maliciously;
...American humorist and literary master Mark Twain takes on tough issues like slavery, race, and the ugliness that can lurk beneath the surface of rural life in this novel. An interwoven tale of three families whose fates are thrown together in the aftermath of a murder, The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson is one of Twain's more serious works, although it is told with the same love of quirky misfits and wonderful observations that enliven books
...With this biting speech, Mark Twain dissects the damaging role newspapers can play in society. He argues that America's public opinion is formed "by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoemaking and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poorhouse." Twain accompanies these criticisms with personal anecdotes and tales of libel both humorous and disheartening. He concludes by saying that there are virtues
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