Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens wrote several novels, short stories, and humorous essays throughout his life, among them The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, one of the most famous (and infamous) novels in all of American literature. ("Infamous" because the novel has been met with objections and challenges almost since its initial publication.)
Celebrate Mark Twain's birthday by reading one of his novels, short story collections, or nonfiction works -- or check out one of the many biographies written about the man:
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (fiction)
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (fiction)
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (fiction)
- The Prince and the Pauper (fiction)
- Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (fiction)
- Pudd'nhead Wilson (fiction)
- The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories (story collection)
- Life on the Mississippi (nonfiction)
- The Complete Travel Books of Mark Twain (nonfiction)
- How to Tell a Story, and Other Essays (nonfiction)
- Papa, an Intimate Biography of Mark Twain, by Susy Clemens (biography)
- Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain: A Biography, by Justin Kaplan (biography)
- The Making of Mark Twain: A Biography, by John Lauber (biography)
- Mark Twain: A Writer's Life, by Milton Meltzer (biography)