Mark Twain is still one of the most enduring and beloved of America's great writers. In this guide to Twain, his life and times and the historical context in which he operated Shelley Fisher Fishkin assembles original essays by leading scholars that describe and define the man.

Mark Twain is still one of the most enduring and beloved of America's great writers. In this guide to Twain, his life and times and the historical context in which he operated Shelley Fisher Fishkin assembles original essays by leading scholars that describe and define the man.

This collection of Mark Twain quotes presents the best of the curmudgeonly writer's thoughts on diet, exercise, medicine, smoking, drinking, romance, parenting, old age, fashion, finances, politics, and stress management. Curated by a well-known Twain expert and mining lesser-known texts, speeches, and notebooks, it's the perfect gift for anyone who's had enough of Gwyneth's self-righteous advice and the ramblings of the blogosphere. "Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any."—from an April 15, 1882 speech "Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education."—from Pudd'nhead Wilson "The less a man knows the bigger the noise he makes and the higher the salary he commands."—from "How I Edited an Agricultural Paper" Mark Dawidziak has been the television critic at the Cleveland Plain Dealer since 1999 and is the author of many books, including the 1994 horror novel Grave Secrets and two histories of landmark TV series: The Columbo Phile: A Casebook and The Night Stalker Companion. A recognized Mark Twain scholar, his acclaimed books on the author include Mark My Words: Mark Twain on Writing and Horton Foote's The Shape of the River: The Lost Teleplay About Mark Twain. He is also a playwright, director, and actor as well as an adjunct professor of journalism at Kent State University.

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.” Observations like this make Mark Twain the most widely read and quoted American author. This guide utilizes quotes, excerpts, biographical information, and critical analysis in examining Twain’s vast output of novels, personal memoirs, social criticisms, and essays, both serious and hilarious. It also demonstrates how Twain carefully stored his life experiences in his mind, then mined and refined them years later, to bring us the timeless lessons he had learned. In all his works, students will find the underlying fears, disappointments, hopes and dreams he held for America—and he always found the right words to tell us.

"For those unaware—as I was until I read this book—that Mark Twain was one of America's early animal advocates, Shelley Fisher Fishkin's collection of his writings on animals will come as a revelation. Many of these pieces are as fresh and lively as when they were first written, and it's wonderful to have them gathered in one place." —Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation and The Life You Can Save “A truly exhilarating work. Mark Twain's animal-friendly views would not be out of place today, and indeed, in certain respects, Twain is still ahead of us: claiming, correctly, that there are certain degraded practices that only humans inflict on one another and upon other animals. Fishkin has done a splendid job: I cannot remember reading something so consistently excellent."—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of When Elephants Weep and The Face on Your Plate "Shelley Fisher Fishkin has given us the lifelong arc of the great man's antic, hilarious, and subtly profound explorations of the animal world, and she's guided us through it with her own trademark wit and acumen. Dogged if she hasn't." —Ron Powers, author of Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain and Mark Twain: A Life