Mark Twain's semi-autobiographical travel memoir, "Roughing It" was written between 1870-1871 and subsequently published in 1872. Billed as a prequel to "Innocents Abroad", in which Twain details his travels aboard a pleasure cruise through Europe and the Holy Land in 1867, "Roughing It" conversely documents Twain's early days in the old wild west between the years 1861-1867. Employing his characteristically humoristic wit and flare for regional dialect, Twain crafts a story which at once explores the magnificence of the wild west and dispels its romanticized mythology. Called out west to help his brother, Orion, who has been appointed secretary of Nevada, the two travel from their homes in Missouri aboard the Overland Stage. In relating the trip, the rugged brilliance of the open frontier of the American West is beautifully depicted. Parting ways with his brother, Twain continues on from Salt Lake City to San Francisco and ultimately the kingdom of Hawaii. Along the way numerous anecdotes of humorous adventures and mishaps of Twain's experiences with Mormons, Native Americans, mining, and real estate speculation are satirically told. A classic travelogue, "Roughing It" is one of Twain's greatest non-fictional works. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Portrait

Mark Twain, beloved author, entrepreneur, and speaker, viewed Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc as the pinnacle of his writing career. In fact, he said of this book, the final full-length novel he wrote: "I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well."Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), which he adopted from his time as a riverboat pilot along the Mississippi River. He was wildly successful over the course of his writing career, even starting his own publishing company for a short while as one of his many entrepreneurial endeavors. He was also close personal friends with Nikola Tesla and invented "sticky paste" in Tesla's lab, a dry film on paper that became sticky when moistened.Oft-irreverent Twain had a deep reverence for St. Joan of Arc, as evidenced within the pages of this book: "It took six thousand years to produce her; her like will not be seen in the earth again in fifty thousand." Perhaps one of St. Joan of Arc's enduring miracles was that she was able to melt the heart of this witty, prickly, and most critical of authors.