The American Claimant: And Other Stories and Sketches
Mark Twain
Jan 1899 · Harper & brothers
Ebook
538
Pages
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About this ebook
The American Claimant is about Americans, the way they view themselves, the way they are viewed by others through the eyes of a British nobleman. Even though a century has passed since the book was written, most of the acute observations are as true today as when it was written. A young English nobleman, Viscount Berkeley, has determined to renounce his aristocratic station, emigrate to America and make his way by ability alone. His place in England is taken by Colonel Sellers, who believes himself the descendant of the family. Each learns that his conceptions of the society he is entering are wildly incorrect, as Twain reiterates a favorite theme--disenchantment with democracy. Other selections include "The £1,000,000 Bank-Note" which charts the magical rags-to-riches ascent of a virtuous and resourceful mining broker's clerk from San Francisco who arrives in London with a single dollar in his pocket, and proceeds to ultimate and splendid financial success and fame in London society--a paean to ingenuity and a celebration of its cunning confidence-man narrator. "Mental Telegraphy," reflects Twain's continuing interest in the occult; "The German Chicago," contrasting Berlin of his era with the American city, "About All Kinds of Ships," about steamboats old and new; plus a tongue-in-cheek "Petition to the Queen of England" for relief from taxes.
About the author
Mark Twain was born Samuel L. Clemens in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. He worked as a printer, and then became a steamboat pilot. He traveled throughout the West, writing humorous sketches for newspapers. In 1865, he wrote the short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, which was very well received. He then began a career as a humorous travel writer and lecturer, publishing The Innocents Abroad in 1869, Roughing It in 1872, and, Gilded Age in 1873, which was co-authored with Charles Dudley Warner. His best-known works are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mississippi Writing: Life on the Mississippi, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910.
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