The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain  (English, Paperback, Twain Mark)

The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain is a collection of all the short stories ever written by master storyteller, Mark Twain.

Summary Of The Book

The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain is a collection of 60 short stories by the author. One of the stories, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, revolves around an “incorruptible” town called Hadleyburg, whose residents are highly honest. However, there was a time when they got on the wrong side of a passerby, who makes an oath to bring corruption in this town. He carefully executes his plan by sending a sack, which allegedly contains gold, to the Richards family, and its worth is 40000 dollars. The sack needs to be handed over to a man who brought about a positive change in the life of the man long time back, by offering some advice.

However, the news spreads in the town about the sack and the residents need to write down what the piece of advice is, to find out who offered the advice to the man. The sack is going to be opened by Reverend Burgess, who will tell the anxious residents whether they are the ones who are eligible to receive the reward. Does the Richard family receive the reward? Does the sack really contain gold?

Another story, The Notorious Jumping Frog Of Calaveras, starts off by the narrator meeting an old man, named Simon Wheeler. After asking him about an old acquaintance, Leonidas W. Smiley, Simon told him that he doesn’t know who is Leonidas W. Smiley, however, he did know Jim Smiley, about whom he starts to tell a story to the narrator.

Jim Smiley likes to bet excessively and has a pet frog, whom he’s been training for 3 months. The frog is capable of jumping the highest in his region, and Jim arranges a contest with a stranger, placing a bet of 40 dollars. The stranger doesn’t have his own frog, so Jim decides to get one for him, leaving his pet frog with the stranger. The stranger then places some lead in the frog’s mouth. Is Jim’s frog able to win him 40 dollars?

The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain is a highly engrossing collection of short stories, which will keep the readers glued to the very end. Some other stories in this collection include A Dog’s Tale, The Mysterious Stranger, and Is He Living Or Is He Dead?

About Mark Twain

Mark Twain was the pen name used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, an author and humorist.

Twain wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, and A Double Barrelled Detective Story.

Twain was born on 30th November, 1835, in Florida, Missouri, U.S. He later worked as a typesetter, during which time he started contributing funny sketches and articles to the Hannibal Journal. Years later, Twain began working as a journalist for several newspapers. He was presented with an honorary doctorate by Oxford University in Letters (D.Litt.) in 1907. Twain passed away on 21st April, 1910, in Redding, Connecticut.