Книги жанра американская литература

Written at the end of Twain's career, Extracts from Adam's Diary was first published in 1897. Twain's Adam was based on himself.

Typical Mark Twain slightly caustic, complex humor. Six of Mark Twain's recollections his early experiences in newspaper work on topics such as his first editorship at age 13, the weaponry needed to edit a newspaper in Tennessee, a character study, and a couple of blunders he made along the way.

The story projects Twain’s lifelong struggles with his conscience. Here the conscience admits to being the “most pitiless enemy” of its host, whom it is supposed to “improve” but only tyrannizes with gusto while refusing to praise the host for anything.

A great writing by Mark Twain based on the short story of classic humour.

"In Defense of Harriet Shelley" is an excellent literary classic for all ages. Twain took much of his ideas and inspiration for his stories and tall tales from real experiences as a river boat pilot, his world travels, friendships, well known people, an educator and an early career as a journalist. A comical masterpiece by a legend of the past.

"On the Decay of the Art of Lyingis" a short essay written by Mark Twain in 1885 for a meeting of the Historical and Antiquarian Club of Hartford, Connecticut. In the essay, Twain laments the dour ways in which men of America's Gilded Age employ man's "most faithfull friend."

Written for the Atlantic magazine in 1877, this is a collection of stories about a trip Mark Twain made with some friends to Bermuda.

The book bears no relationship to Twain's actual life. The two short stories present fictional characters who are supposedly part of Twain's lineage.

"The Purloined Letter" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. It is the third of his three detective stories featuring the fictional C. Auguste Dupin, the other two being «The Murders in the Rue Morgue» and «The Mystery of Marie Rogêt». These stories are considered to be important early forerunners of the modern detective story.

"The Fall of the House of Usher" recounts the terrible events that befall the last remaining members of the once-illustrious Usher clan before it is―quite literally―rent asunder. With amazing economy, Poe plunges the reader into a state of deliciously agonizing suspense. It's a must-read for fans of the golden era of horror writing.

The blackness of eternal night encompassed me. The intense darkness oppressed and stifled me so that I struggled for breath.Having been condemned to death by the Spanish Inquisition, the narrator descends into a kind of hell. Dizzy with weakness and fainting with fear, he experiences such torments that death itself would be welcome. What troubles him most is the eternal question: how will he die?T…

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in Graham's Magazine in 1841. It has been claimed as the first detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his «tales of ratiocination».

"The Mystery of Marie Rogêt", often subtitled A Sequel to «The Murders in the Rue Morgue», is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe written in 1842. This is the first murder mystery based on the details of a real crime. It first appeared in Snowden's Ladies' Companion in three installments, November and December 1842 and February 1843.

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe first published in 1843. It is told by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of his sanity, while describing a murder he committed. (The victim was an old man with a filmy «vulture-eye», as the narrator calls it.) The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by dismembering it and hiding it under th…

"The American Claimant" is a comedy of mistaken identities and multiple role switches―fertile and familiar Mark Twain territory. Its cast of characters include an American enamored of British hereditary aristocracy and a British earl entranced by American democracy.Twain uses this over-the-top comic frame to explore some serious issues as well-such as the construction of self and identity, the rol…