Short Stories

Mark Twain

A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

And as Ernest Hemingway wisely observed: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn ." "

facebook share button

Celebrate Black History Month with 100 Essential Books from the Past Decade

The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain

Every one of his sixty stories is here: ranging from the frontier humor of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” to the bitter vision of humankind in “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg,” to the delightful hilarity of “Is He Living or Is He Dead?” Surging with Twain’s ebullient wit and penetrating insight into the follies of human nature, this volume is a vibrant summation of the career of–in the words of H. L. Mencken–“the father of our national literature.”

848 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Profile Image for Mark Twain.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think? Rate this book Write a Review

Friends & Following

Community reviews.

Profile Image for Mischenko.

This collection is conveniently arranged by date of publication, from 1865 through 1916, 6 years after his death. Haley's comet was visible from earth in 1835 when Samuel Clemens was born. It was next visible in 1910, the year he died. Some say that his life was characterized by the orbit of a comet. In his lifetime he saw the advent of the Transcontinental RR, completion of the Suez Canal, the Civil War, the transatlantic telegraph, the telephone, electric lights, the phonograph, the typewriter, the dictaphone, motion pictures and the airplane. He incorporated many of these technologies into his novels and short stories ,and he used most of them in the writing process. The telephone was invented in 1874, and just two years later he wrote "The Loves of Alonzo Fitz Clarence and Rossanah Ethelton". He imagined a long distance romance between New York and California, and eventually Hawaii. A jealous rival wiretaps the phone lines and listens in on conversations and sends fake messages, foreshadowing many of the events of today. Transcontinental phone calls were not possible until nearly 40 years later, well after Twain's death.

His stories use a great variety of time, place, and points of view. We can read a story that takes place in ancient Rome, Renaissance Europe, or current day in Heaven. He writes from the point of view of a dog, a horse, or a dead man.

He is known for capturing all the foibles of man. We see greed, jealousy, lying, theft, murder, and just plain foolishness. We see Twain, as he is in his final years, becoming more bitter and pessimistic about the future of mankind. He questions the existence of God, and the concepts of Heaven and Hell that go along with it."The Mysterious Stranger", published posthumously in 1916, is his last short story. It touches on metaphysics, God, and a bit of science fiction.

I have read the short stories of Guy de Maupassant, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Chekhov, and Hemingway. None can compare with Twain in variety, scope and humor.

Profile Image for Chris  - Quarter Press Editor.

" . . . I will impress those sparkling fields on my memory, so that by and by when theya re taken away I can by my fancy restore those lovely myriads to the black sky and make them sparkle again, and double them by the blue of my tears."

Profile Image for Betsy.

Join the discussion

Can't find what you're looking for.

14 Mark Twain Books That Everyone Should Read

Join Discovery, the new community for book lovers

Trust book recommendations from real people, not robots 🤓

Blog – Posted on Wednesday, Mar 20

14 mark twain books that everyone should read.

14 Mark Twain Books That Everyone Should Read

Controversial, brilliant, and ever witty, the man who would shape American literature was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in a small riverside town in Missouri in 1835. More than a century later, Mark Twain remains one of the best writers that America has ever produced. As an illustrious novelist, distinguished essayist, popular travel writer, beloved humorist, and astute literary critic, Twain casts an intimidatingly long shadow on any American author who dares to follow him. Not to mention, he was ridiculously prolific — writing 28 books and upwards of some 100 short stories!

So rest assured: there’s more to Twain that simply The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. If you’d like to discover the rich oeuvre of the man who became one of the greatest figures in American literature, here are 14 of the best Mark Twain books — ordered by date of publication, as a few of his works were published posthumously.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great classics out there, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized book recommendation  😉

Which book should you read next?

Discover the perfect book for you. Takes 30 seconds!

1. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865)

The piece that first catapulted Twain into the national eye is, in truth, not so much a book as a short story. Originally published as “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog,” “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is the tale of a man who gets dragged into an (admittedly one-sided) conversation with another man who simply loves hearing the sound of his own voice. His companion’s stories are pointless and endless, and our poor narrator can barely interject a word to excuse himself. Eventually, the indefatigable storyteller lands on a yarn about a jumping frog — hence the title of the piece. Short as it may be, this piece should be enough to give you a taste of Twain’s inimitable brand of humor, which is a staple in his later works.

2. The Innocents Abroad (1869)

Growing up, Twain was big on travel and took many opportunities to gallivant around the world: a passion that shows up in spades in this early work. As the bestselling book of Twain’s lifetime (and one of the most popular travelogues ever published),  The Innocents Abroad  documents Twain’s voyages in Europe and the Middle East in hilarious fashion. Trips to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Vatican, and even the Sphinx in Egypt create comic set pieces, even while Twain delights in pointing out many a politically incorrect cultural peculiarity in every country. 

Though  The Innocents Abroad  is categorized as nonfiction, the reality is that it lies somewhere between fact and fiction. Some of his accounts may seem somewhat fanciful (which is understandable, seeing as Twain is an author at heart), but the stories are so great that it doesn’t really matter what’s true and what’s not. And if it’s true that “it’s all about the journey,” as they say, then you can’t do better than this terrifically energetic book. For it’s also where you can witness a young Mark Twain at the start of his own long road — wry and irreverent, growing as a writer, and not yet embittered by society.

Looking for something new to read?

Trust real people, not robots, to give you book recommendations.

Or sign up with an email address

3. Roughing It (1872)

When he was only 26 years old, Samuel Clemens lit out to California to mine for gold: this became the basis for  Roughing It , or the prequel to  The Innocents Abroad  and a semi-autobiographical memoir about Twain’s experiences in the American west. Herein lies a potpourri of Twain’s earliest adventures — “semi-autobiographical,” again, as he undoubtedly embellished quite a few of the tall tales that regale its pages. Yet while  Roughing It  might (aptly) seem a bit rough around the edges, especially when compared to his subsequent works, it’s where Twain really began to hone his art. Many of his later hallmarks are evident here, from his witty observations about otherwise trivial moments to the presence of a galloping, entertaining plot. In short, if you put a young Mark Twain together with a bunch of gold miners and drop them in the middle of the Wild West in the 1860s, this is exactly what you’d expect.

4. The Gilded Age (1873)

Published in 1873 and co-written with Charles Dudley Warner based on a bet with their wives,  The Gilded Age  was Twain’s first novel. You probably already recognize that the Gilded Age refers to the three decades that followed the Civil War, but what you might not know is that  t his is the book that coined the term. True to Twain’s Midwestern roots, it’s a splendid satire of the politics and corruption that ran rampant in Washington D.C. in the post-war years — featuring an ensemble cast of crooked politicians, gaudy plutocrats, pretentious bankers, and naïve bystanders, all of whom Twain cheerfully skewers with colorful prose in this book.

If you’d prefer to read only Twain and not Warner, keep your perusal to the first eleven chapters. Amid the get-rich ploys and corporate fraud, they sparkle with Twain’s trademark wit on a subject that’s still pertinent, perhaps more than ever, today. (Twain once wrote: “Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”) Above all,  The Gilded Age  is a broad, ambitious effort to capture an entire period of time — one that ended up defining it in the English vernacular.

5. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)

A coming-of-age novel for the ages, this is the story of Tom Sawyer: an aspiring troublemaker, idyllic romantic, devilish orphan, and young dreamer. He carries out his antics under the weary eye of his Aunt Polly, all the while endeavoring to romance Becky Thatcher, the new girl in town and daughter of the local judge. In perhaps the most recognized scene in all of American literature, Tom hoodwinks a bunch of neighborhood boys into whitewashing his aunt’s fence  for  him. But even a murder and a funeral — his own, by the way — cannot curb his mischief-making.

Though it might be eclipsed these days by  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , this unrepentantly cracking book is still an American classic. In many ways,  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer  is even more wry than the former (in part due to the creative license that its  third-person point of view  affords Twain). Perhaps Twain’s greatest skill was his uncanny ability to tap into the minds of children. Imbued with such exuberance,  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer  perfectly captures both the innocence and irreverence of youth, seen through the eyes of a boy who embodies boyhood best of all.

6. A Tramp Abroad (1880)

In 1878 and 1879, Twain embarked on a second 15-month trip through Central Europe and the Alps. This is the account of that journey — Twain’s sequel to  The Innocents Abroad . (As discerning readers might be able to tell, Twain was once an innocent, now a tramp.) However, he is one of the most endearing tramps in this uproariously epic book, which serves up an entertaining travelogue and social critique of the world all in one. And, in case you’re wondering, no German, Swiss, American, or English person is spared from his sardonic eye. As it comes in Twain’s later years,  A Tramp Abroad  is a bit more introspective than his past two travel books. But it is still a triumph in the realm of travel writing, and a formative piece of commentary in its own right.

7. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)

For a book that needs no introduction, many people rush to regard it. Ernest Hemingway said that American fiction begins and ends with  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . Most critics call it  the  Great American Novel. So, though you probably already know the gist of the story, let’s go through it once more for old time’s sake! Huckleberry Finn, a thirteen-year-old boy, is kidnapped from town by the local drunkard — his own father. He ends up escaping with a runaway slave, Jim. As the odd pair drifts southward along the great Mississippi River on a rickety raft, they encounter (and become embroiled in) episodic comic hijinks, from con men and fake deaths to a raging family feud (nineteenth-century style).

Considered by many to be the apex of Twain’s genius,  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  has continued to sweep readers up in its rollicking ride for more than a century. Part of its timeless pull lies in Twain’s protagonists: as a runaway slave and the penniless son of the town drunk, Jim and Huck are, if not at the bottom rung of the social ladder, certainly near it. Their struggle to defy society results in a gloriously rich narrative of boyhood adventure. But beneath the ripping yarn lies a deeply subversive study of racism, morality, and humanity — and it’s this masterful sum of the parts that elevates  Huckleberry Finn  into the annals of literature as one of the greatest books of all time.

8. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889)

The seed of the idea for this book came to Twain while reading Sir Thomas Malory's  Le Morte d’Arthur . He reportedly scribbled down: “Dreamt of being a knight errant in armor in the middle ages. Have the notions & habits of thought of the present day mixed with the necessities of that. No pockets in the armor. No way to manage certain requirements of nature. Can't scratch. Cold in the head — can't blow — can't get a handkerchief, can't use iron sleeve.”

Thus the story of Hank Morgan, a mere engineer from Connecticut who is transported back to 528 AD during the reign of King Arthur, was born. As Morgan ingratiates himself as a powerful magician by King Arthur’s side, shenanigans expectedly run riot. But beyond its veneer as a fun “time travel” book,  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court  is a reality-check for us: a cautionary occasion for Twain to express a deep criticism of our ability to romanticize the past.

9. Pudd'nhead Wilson (1889)

Serialized in  The Century Magazine  before its publication as a novel in 1894,  Pudd’nhead Wilson  is the tale of two young boys: one born to a slave woman, and the other, the master’s son. Switched at infancy, their stories inevitably collide and may or may not culminate in a dramatic courtroom showdown. Through it all, Twain skillfully weaves a truly eccentric supporting cast — one that includes David Wilson, a man who finds great joy in collecting fingerprints. 

On its surface,  Pudd’nhead Wilson  might be the book that bears the most similarities to the  oeuvre of one of Twain’s contemporaries , Charles Dickens: mistaken identities, rampant crime, a motley crew of characters, and unbridled plot twists abound. However, its entertaining exterior masks the urgent social critique at the heart of the novel. Perhaps even more so than  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , this is the novel in which Mark Twain most powerfully came out against the institution of slavery — and as an even stronger advocate for emancipation and women’s rights.

10. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (1896)

Twain’s swan song in fiction is arguably his finest novel — certainly, he favored it most himself. Though the public slept on  Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc  when it was first published, and history elevates  Huckleberry Finn  over top of it, Mark Twain quietly said: “I like  Joan of Arc  best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others.”

Told from the perspective of Sieur Louis de Conte, a fictional companion of Joan’s, this is the story of the famed illiterate French peasant girl who rose to larger-than-legend status in fifteenth-century France. It is not a  biography , but an extensively researched novel. Lengthy and rather slow-paced,  Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc  is notable for its muted humor — a striking departure from the work that Twain can so reliably be expected to produce. But, without his quintessential satire, it becomes something powerful of its own accord: a beautiful, worthy, and serious tribute to a person who embodied all of the virtues that Twain admired in humankind.

11. Following the Equator (1897)

We’re now nearing the end of Twain’s career, which nosedived in the early 1890s. Bankruptcy due to poor investments prompted Twain to embark on a series of international speaking engagements circa 1895: a long trip that enabled him to circumnavigate the far-flung countries of the Victorian British Empire. His many adventures — from diamond mining in South Africa to riding the rails in India — ended up bringing one of his last works of  travel writing ,  Following the Equator , into existence.

Though Twain was considerably older and sadder by this time, this book bears witness to the fact that his keen powers of observation never failed him. So long as there’s no posturing nearby for him to ridicule, Twain could certainly produce a lovely sketch of the country itself! But the virtues of  Following the Equator  lie (as always) in its lively prose, freewheeling humor, withering irony, and  plenty  of political incorrectness, reminding you why he was such a beloved icon in his time — and such great company for readers today.

12. The Mysterious Stranger (1916)

In the fittingly titled  The Mysterious Stranger , we meet a group of boys who encounter a stranger in late sixteenth-century Austria. He’s turned up in town rather, well, mysteriously. But unfolding circumstances reveal that there’s more to him than meets the eye: he’s an angel, and his name is Satan (not  the  Satan, by the way. Just a distant relative — explaining the probably inconvenient family name). Unfortunately, this unfinished novel was published posthumously in 1916, so we’ll never know what Twain intended for  The Mysterious Stranger  in the end. What you  will  find is an opaque but profound contemplation of human nature itself, as the weight of Twain’s cynicism and disillusionment with humanity ultimately dwarfs the carefree antics that characterized his previous works.

13. Letters from the Earth (1962)

Mark Twain never intended  Letters from the Earth  to be published, saying that it would be a felony to do so — perhaps because of the controversial opinions that he imparted within it. Needless to say, its premise is provocative: the book is made up of a series of letters written by the archangel Satan that comment on humankind and Christianity. (Satan sent them to archangels Gabriel and Michael, hoping to amuse them while he whittled away his time on Earth after another expulsion from heaven.) More than that, this incisive book gave Twain a platform to produce a scathing rebuke of our god-fearing society.

Despite Twain’s misgivings,  Letters from the Earth  was nevertheless published posthumously in 1962. But he had actually written it circa 1909, during a black period of his life in which his eldest daughter and wife both died. Make no mistake: this is Twain at his most cynical, defiant, intelligent, belligerent, and cutting. Of course, that means that this book is perhaps his funniest. If you don’t have the time to read it all, go straight to “A Cat-Tale,” “The Damned Human Race,” and the titular story, “Letters from the Earth.”

14. Autobiography of Mark Twain (2010)

In his twilight years, Mark Twain sat on his deathbed, a stenographer by his side, and talked. From the mass of these notes emerged this autobiography: a patchwork of memories, anecdotes, tall tales, and personal philosophies. By this time, Twain had lived through the gold rush, the American promise of manifest destiny, the Civil War, the hopeful dawn of Reconstruction and its eventual collapse, the onset of the American Indian Wars, bankruptcy, adventures around the globe too many to count — all testimony to a life loved well.

Unlike his other works that were published posthumously, it was Twain’s express wish to "publish all of this but not until I am dead.” (Indeed, he indicated that he wanted a century to pass before its publication — probably because he was aware that some of his personal observations would have offended a few  generations  of people.) Of course, this autobiography is quite original as far as autobiographies go: it forgoes chronology entirely, as Twain simply ended up dictating whatever happened to enter his mind at the time. Yet it brims with all of his characteristic verve and genius, and many of its stories are gems. Most of all, it speaks of a writer of exceptional spirit and a man of exceptional character.

At a time when America was changing so dramatically, expanding westward and still defining itself as a young country, Twain rose to become one of its most enduring voices. He was sometimes serious; sometimes tongue-in-cheek; sometimes tempestuous; always generous, witty, wise, honest, and deeply compassionate. He was larger in life in his time, and there has been no such equivalent since he died. As Twain writes himself in this autobiography, "When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened. It is sad to go to pieces like this but we all have to do it.” But what, you may venture to say, a truly extraordinary way to have gone.

For more social satire, check out our guide to the 12 best Kurt Vonnegut books packed with humor and bleak reflections on the human condition. If literary classics are what you're after, head to our post on the 15 best John Steinbeck books instead.

Continue reading

More posts from across the blog.

The 30 Best Dystopian Novels Everyone Should Read

Whether they’re sci-fi books about androids dominating the world or speculative fiction tales that aren’t so far from real life, dystopian novels are never not in vogue. From widely popular series to critically acclaimed works, these stories’ social commentary caters to both c...

The 53 Best Book Series of All Time

With new books being published every single day, figuring out your next read can be a daunting task. Lucky for you, we’ve created a list of the 53 best book series of all time — ranging from fantasy and science fiction to romance and thriller — to keep you occupied for days (o...

Read for Charity: What You Can Do This June

We all love reading challenges — but you know what’s even better than setting records and out-reading your friends? Reading to raise money for a great cause.That’s why this June, Reedsy Discovery is partnering with Room to Read to raise money for child literacy and g...

Heard about Reedsy Discovery?

Or sign up with an

Or sign up with your social account

  • Submit your book
  • Reviewer directory

Discovery | Books to Read Before You Die 1 | 2024-01

The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain

By mark twain, category: classic fiction | literary fiction | short stories.

Mar 01, 1984 | ISBN 9780553211955 | 4-3/16 x 6-7/8 --> | ISBN 9780553211955 --> Buy

Sep 27, 2005 | ISBN 9780553901962 | ISBN 9780553901962 --> Buy

Buy from Other Retailers:

The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain by Mark Twain

Mar 01, 1984 | ISBN 9780553211955

Sep 27, 2005 | ISBN 9780553901962

Buy the Ebook:

  • Barnes & Noble
  • Books A Million
  • Google Play Store

About The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain

For deft plotting, riotous inventiveness, unforgettable characters, and language that brilliantly captures the lively rhythms of American speech, no American writer comes close to Mark Twain. This sparkling anthology covers the entire span of Twain’s inimitable yarn-spinning, from his early broad comedy to the biting satire of his later years. Every one of his sixty stories is here: ranging from the frontier humor of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” to the bitter vision of humankind in “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg,” to the delightful hilarity of “Is He Living or Is He Dead?” Surging with Twain’s ebullient wit and penetrating insight into the follies of human nature, this volume is a vibrant summation of the career of–in the words of H. L. Mencken–“the father of our national literature.”

Also by Mark Twain

Collected Nonfiction of Mark Twain, Volume 1

About Mark Twain

MARK TWAIN, considered one of the greatest writers in American literature, was born Samuel Clemens in Florida, Missouri, in 1835, and died in Redding, Connecticut in 1910. As a young child, he moved with his family to Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks… More about Mark Twain

Product Details

You may also like.

Book cover

The Portable Hawthorne

Book cover

Billy Budd, Sailor, and Other Stories

Book cover

Chekhov: The Essential Plays

Book cover

The Portable Mark Twain

Book cover

Pudd’nhead Wilson

Book cover

Billy Budd and Other Tales

Book cover

The Blithedale Romance

Book cover

All My Sons

Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

Raise kids who love to read

Today's Top Books

Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

An online magazine for today’s home cook

Stay in Touch

By clicking "Sign Up", I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy . You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime.

Just for joining you’ll get personalized recommendations on your dashboard daily and features only for members.

Summaries, Analysis & Lists

Mark Twain Short Stories List + PDF

Mark Twain Short Stories

Mark Twain Short Stories List

Mark Twain is known mainly for his novels, but he also wrote many short stories. In fact, it was a short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, that first gained him wide recognition. That story, as well as many others, is presented below with a brief teaser. I hope you find some new Mark Twain short stories to enjoy. The short stories with PDF links are noted below.

If you’re interested in a book, you can get everything in The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain . (Amazon)

Mark Twain Short Stories

“a burlesque autobiography”.

Twain goes back a long way to describe the important people in his family’s lineage. His is a noble house. His ancestors were noteworthy citizens of their time. There are definite tendencies that have recurred in his ancestors.

“Two or three persons having at different times intimated that if I would write an autobiography they would read it when they got leisure, I yield at last to this frenzied public demand and herewith tender my history.”

This story can be read in the preview of  The Complete Short Stories .  (select in table of contents)

“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”

At the request of a friend, the narrator calls on old Simon Wheeler to get the story of a man named Leonidas Smiley. Smiley was a betting man, and quite lucky. He would bet on anything. He had a dog that he won a lot of money with. Most of all, though, he was known for his bets on an unusual frog.

This is the first story in the preview of  Book of Mark Twain’s Short Stories .

“The Story of the Bad Little Boy”

Jim is a bad little boy. He has a mother who isn’t sick, pious or anxious over him, as would usually be the case in a story like this. He disobeys and misbehaves without any twinges of conscience. Things seem to go better for Jim than they generally do for bad children.

“This Jim bore a charmed life—that must have been the way of it. Nothing could hurt him.”

This is the second story in the preview of  Book of Mark Twain’s Short Stories .

Mark Twain Short Stories, Cont’d

“The Story of the Good Little Boy”

Jacob is a good little boy. He’s obedient, learns his lessons, and is always on time for Sunday-school. He never skips school, or lies, or plays mean tricks. Jacob loves to read the stories of good little boys and the rewards they receive. He hopes such a book will be written about him one day.

The narrator attended a banquet in honor of an English military captain. An old acquaintance, a clergyman, told him that in private the man was a fool. Surprised, the narrator gets the story from him. It seems all the captain’s successful campaigns were the result of a terrible blunder.

“. . . and so it was exceedingly painful to see him stand there, as serene as a graven image, and deliver himself of answers which were veritably miraculous for stupidity and ignorance.”

Read “Luck”

“A Dog’s Tale”

A dog recounts her history. Her mother was a collie that liked making a show of her education, which was superficial. She liked using words and phrases she had heard without regard for the meaning. She was also kind, gentle and brave. When the narrator grows up, she’s sold, which is very sad for them both. She ends up in a fine home. One day, a situation arises that tests her character.

Read  “A Dog’s Tale” (PDF)

“Glove Purchase in Gibraltar”

The narrator recounts his glove purchase from the previous night. An attractive saleslady showed him gloves that were nothing like what he wanted, but her compliments made it hard for him to refuse them.

“Jim Baker’s Blue-Jay Yarn”

The narrator knew a man, Jim Baker, who understood animal talk. Apparently, animal speech varies just as human speech does, by education, vocabulary level and excitability. He told the narrator a story of a blue jay, a complicated creature who was very determined.

Read “Jim Baker’s Blue-Jay Yarn” (PDF)

“The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg”

Hadleyburg is an honest and upright town. A mysterious stranger is holding a grudge against a few citizens, but rather than seeking revenge against the individuals he wants to corrupt the whole town. He launches his scheme by dropping off a sack of gold coins at the Richards’ home. A note explains that the coins will be awarded to whoever can repeat the wise advice that was given to the stranger years ago.

Read “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg”

The narrator’s new watch has kept perfect time for eighteen months. One night, he accidentally lets it run down. He takes it to the jeweler’s to have it set. The jeweler adjusts the regulator, despite the narrators protests. The watch soon starts gaining time.

Read “My Watch”

“Science vs Luck”

A group of boys are on trial for playing games of chance, which are against the law in Kentucky. An accomplished lawyer, Jim Sturgis, is appointed to defend them. People think it’s a shame he’s being given an unwinnable case. After several restless nights, Sturgis is struck with an inspired idea for a defense.

Read “Science vs Luck”

“How the Author Was Sold in Newark”

The author recently lectured in Newark to a society for young gentlemen. During an afternoon meeting, a young man told him how distressed he was over his uncle who had lost all emotion. He never laughed or cried. The author tells the young man to bring his uncle and that his speech is sure to elicit both reactions from the poor fellow.

“Wit Inspirations of the ‘Two-Year-Olds'”

The narrator doesn’t like when infants make smart remarks. He remembers that his own smart remarks as a child weren’t appreciated. He recounts one such episode when he was two weeks old. His relatives were discussing what his name should be.

Read  “Wit Inspirations . . .”

“Eve’s Diary”

Eve starts a diary, beginning with the first day she arrived on Earth. She tries to make sense of her situation. She views herself as an experiment. She notices the other being like her that she thinks is called a man. They start spending some time together. Soon, she takes over the job of naming the animals.

“I arrived yesterday. That is as it seems to me. And it must be so, for if there was a day-before-yesterday I was not there when it happened, or I should remember it.”

Read “Eve’s Diary”

“A Curious Experience”

In the winter of 1962-63, a boy, aged fourteen or fifteen, shows up at the recruiting office at Fort Trumbull, wanting to enlist. The commandant objects, saying the boy is too young and too small. He feels for the boy, though, and allows him to stay a while. He listens to the boy’s story. He relents and let’s the boy join, although not as a soldier.

Read “A Curious Experience”

“The Invalid’s Story”

The narrator is only forty-one years old but looks worse. He lost his health due to an incident that occurred two years ago. He found out that his best friend from childhood had died. His last request was for the narrator to take his remains home to his parents. He went immediately to the train station and witnessed the coffin being loaded. Soon after he sees a man tampering with it but finds it’s a different container. He knows now that there was actually a mix up.

Read “The Invalid’s Story”

I’ll keep adding Mark Twain short stories as I read more.

best short stories mark twain

hoopla logo

  • Author / People
  • log in sign up

The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

Mark Twain was known as a great American short-story writer as well as novelist and humorist. This collection of eighteen of his best short stories, from the well known to the lesser known, displays his mastery of Western humor and frontier realism. The stories also show how Twain earned his place in American letters as a master writer in the authentic native idiom. He was exuberant and irreverent, but underlying the humor was a vigorous desire for social justice and equality. Beginning the collection is Twain's comic version of an old folk tale, “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog,” first published in 1865 in the New York Saturday Press. It became t...

"Mark Twain was a master ofpungent tall talk and picaresque adventure."

- The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature

Similar Artists

Refresh required.

We have released a new version of the hoopla web site. You'll need to refresh this page now to continue.

best short stories mark twain

IMAGES

  1. The Best Short Works of Mark Twain

    best short stories mark twain

  2. The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain by Mark Twain, Paperback

    best short stories mark twain

  3. The Short Stories of Mark Twain: An Annotated Collection of Short

    best short stories mark twain

  4. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

    best short stories mark twain

  5. SELECTED SHORT STORIES OF MARK TWAIN

    best short stories mark twain

  6. Download The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain Audiobook by Mark Twain

    best short stories mark twain

VIDEO

  1. Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories by Twain Mark

  2. It Came from Dimension X 2023 by: audiobooks535 #shortstories

  3. The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories

  4. Introduction to "The New Guide of the Conversation in Portuguese and English"

  5. Those Extraordinary Twins by Mark Twain

  6. Some Articles About Mark Twain by Sarah Knowles Bolton; Charles H. Clark; Edmund Yates

COMMENTS

  1. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

    The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain Mark Twain, Pete Hamill (Introduction), Lawrence Berkove (Editor) 4.06 825 ratings90 reviews This unique collection of Twain's essential short stories and semiautobiographical narratives is a testament to the author's vast imagination.

  2. Mark Twain

    Samuel Langhorne Clemens Pen Name: Mark Twain Born: November 30, 1835 Died: April 21, 1910 Born November 30, 1835 in Florida, Mark Twain "came in with the comet" and as he predicted "went out with the comet" passing April 21, 1910, the day after Halley's Comet.

  3. The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain

    Every one of his sixty stories is here: ranging from the frontier humor of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," to the bitter vision of humankind in "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg," to the delightful hilarity of "Is He Living or Is He Dead?"

  4. Short Stories by Mark Twain

    Two of Mark Twain's short stories are "The Five Boons Of Life" and "Luck." "The Five Boons Of Life" illustrates the importance of making decisions, and "Luck" illustrates a humorous scenario...

  5. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain (Modern Library Classics)

    This unique collection of Twain's essential short stories and semiautobiographical narratives is a testament to the author's vast imagination. Featuring popular tales such as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" and "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg," as well as some delightful excerpts from The Diaries of Adam and Eve, this compilation also ...

  6. 14 Mark Twain Books That Everyone Should Read

    1. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865) Buy on Amazon Add to library The piece that first catapulted Twain into the national eye is, in truth, not so much a book as a short story.

  7. 7 best short stories by Mark Twain

    Product Details About the Author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), best known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an author and humorist noted for the novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (which has been called "The Great American Novel") and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, among many other books.

  8. The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain

    Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835. He gained national attention as a humorist in 1865 with the publication of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," but was acknowledged as a great writer by the literary establishment with The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (1885).In 1880, Twain began promoting and financing the ill-fated Paige typesetter, an invention designed ...

  9. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

    The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain. This unique collection of Twain's essential short stories and semiautobiographical narratives is a testament to the author's vast imagination. Featuring popular tales such as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" and "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg," as well as some delightful excerpts from The ...

  10. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

    One Book - Random House Group Read an Excerpt The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain Edited, with a Preface and Notes, by Lawrence I. Berkove Ebook December 18, 2007 | ISBN 9780307431981 Amazon Apple Books Barnes & Noble Books A Million Google Play Store Kobo Paperback Excerpt The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog

  11. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

    The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain. Mark Twain. Random House Publishing Group, Dec 18, 2007 - Fiction - 400 pages. This unique collection of Twain's essential short stories and semiautobiographical narratives is a testament to the author's vast imagination. Featuring popular tales such as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" and "The ...

  12. The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain

    Mark Twain's famous novels Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have long been hailed as major achievements, but the father of American literature also made his mark as a master of the humorous short story. All the tales he wrote over the course of his lengthy career are gathered here, including such immortal classics as "The Notorious Jumping ...

  13. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain (Modern Library Classics)

    The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain (Modern Library Classics) - Kindle edition by Twain, Mark, Berkove, Lawrence, Hamill, Pete. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain (Modern Library Classics).

  14. The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain

    About Mark Twain. MARK TWAIN, considered one of the greatest writers in American literature, was born Samuel Clemens in Florida, Missouri, in 1835, and died in Redding, Connecticut in 1910. As a young child, he moved with his family to Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks… More about Mark Twain

  15. The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain

    All the tales he wrote over the course of his lengthy career are gathered here, including such immortal classics as "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg," "The Diary of Adam and Eve," and "The $30,000 Bequest."

  16. Mark Twain Short Stories List + PDF

    (Amazon) Mark Twain Short Stories "A Burlesque Autobiography" Twain goes back a long way to describe the important people in his family's lineage. His is a noble house. His ancestors were noteworthy citizens of their time. There are definite tendencies that have recurred in his ancestors.

  17. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

    Mark Twain was known as a great American short-story writer as well as novelist and humorist. This collection of eighteen of his best short stories, from the well known to the lesser known, displays his mastery of Western humor and frontier realism. The stories also show how Twain earned his place in American letters as a master writer in the authentic native idiom. He was exuberant and ...

  18. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

    The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain MP3 CD - Unabridged, July 1, 2010 by Mark Twain (Author), Robin Field (Reader) 4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 39 ratings

  19. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

    Mark Twain was known as a great American short-story writer as well as novelist and humorist. This collection of eighteen of his best short stories, from the well known to the lesser known, displays his mastery of Western humor and frontier realism. The stories also show how Twain earned his place in American letters as a master writer in the authentic native idiom. He was exuberant and ...

  20. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

    Mark Twain was well known as a great American short-story writer as well as a novelist and humorist. This collection of eighteen of his best short stories, the well known and the lesser known, displays his best-known side, as a master of Western humor and frontier realism, with little of the pessimism that surfaced in his later works.

  21. The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain

    LAWRRENCE I. BERKOVE, this volume's editor, is a professor of English at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and a noted authority on Mark Twain.He has published groundbreaking essays on Twain's major novels, short fiction, travel literature, and religious values. PETE HAMILL, this volume's introducer, is a journalist, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story writer, and the author of A ...

  22. The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain

    Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835. He gained national attention as a humorist in 1865 with the publication of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," but was acknowledged as a great writer by the literary establishment with The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (1885).In 1880, Twain began promoting and financing the ill-fated Paige typesetter, an invention designed ...

  23. Mark Twain's Best Short Stories

    ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1936709229. Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces. Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 0.4 x 10 inches. Best Sellers Rank: #2,642,860 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books) #4,411 in Humorous Fantasy (Books) #5,449 in Fantasy Anthologies. #25,710 in Short Stories Anthologies. Customer Reviews: 4.6 6 ratings.