Merry tales
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Merry tales
(The Oxford Mark Twain / Shelley Fisher Fishkin, editor)
Oxford University Press, 1996
- : trade ed
- : lib. ed
Available at 70 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Facsimiles reprint. Originally published: New York : Charles L. Webster, 1892
Includes bibliographical references
Description and Table of Contents
Description
These seven sketches are unmistakably Twain, displaying his characteristic energy, imagination, and sense of fun, as well as the darkly satirical edge that marks all his work. His targets range from the difficulty of learning German, expressed in a three-act play where two young lovers are obliged to conduct their courtship in beginning German, to the incompetence of military command, found in a sketch called "Luck" in which it is revealed that a celebrated general's most lauded battle stratagem resulted from his confusing his right hand with his left. Perhaps the best known story in this collection is "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed," one of the few pieces Twain ever wrote about his experiences in the Civil War. His friend William Dean Howells, on reading this striking autobiographical narrative, wrote to Twain, "It was immensely amusing, with such a bloody bit of heartache in it". As Anne Bernays writes in her introduction to this volume, "'The Private History of a Campaign That Failed' is a merry tale about shattered innocence and slaughter, unmatched in the care and handling". A fascinating collection of captivating and thoughtful tales.
by "Nielsen BookData"