Add Prime to get Fast, Free delivery
Amazon prime logo
$40.00
FREE Returns
Temporarily out of stock.
Order now and we'll deliver when available.
Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your account will only be charged when we ship the item.
Details
Want it faster? The Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app.
$$40.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$40.00
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day refund/replacement
30-day refund/replacement
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Mark Twain on Potholes and Politics: Letters to the Editor (Mark Twain and His Circle) (Volume 1) Hardcover – Illustrated, December 16, 2014

5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$40.00","priceAmount":40.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"40","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"WBw1rlhkTEAoYLvcDLLYc9j6g079PI1V1BZO1O2GyQMc2qawCNa92%2FbgAaazgjMjI6E0SDfoguz4ygOiEFrpZwwKj%2BmunAnLZgicCQk04Yi4NeiLh8Sx58i1z0gNyxDh%2BzrH4%2BW7EuKvm4Wc%2B1%2BIWw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Whether he was taking us along for a journey down the Mississippi with a couple of runaways or delivering speeches on the importance of careful lying, Mark Twain had an innate ability to captivate readers and listeners alike with his trademark humor and sarcasm. Twain never lacked for material, either, as his strong opinions regarding most issues gave him countless opportunities to articulate his thoughts in the voice that only he could provide.

A frequent outlet for Twain’s wit was in letters to the editors of various newspapers and periodicals. Sharing his thoughts and opinions on topical issues ranging from national affairs to local social events, with swipes along the way at woman suffrage, potholes, literary piracy and other scams, slow mail delivery, police corruption, capital punishment, and the removal of
Huck Finn from libraries, Twain never hesitated to speak his mind. And now thanks to Gary Scharnhorst, more than a hundred of these letters are available in one place for us to enjoy.

From his opinions on the execution of an intellectually brilliant murderer, to his scathing review of a bureau he perceived as “a pack of idiots” running on a currency of doughnuts, Twain’s pure, unbridled voice is evident throughout his letters.
Mark Twain on Potholes and Politicsgives readers a chance to delve further than ever before into the musings of the most recognizable voice in American literature.

"All the Little Raindrops: A Novel" by Mia Sheridan for $10.39
The chilling story of the abduction of two teenagers, their escape, and the dark secrets that, years later, bring them back to the scene of the crime. | Learn more

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The editorial page remains one of the most popular pages in newspapers today. On this page readers often encounter the spontaneity and catharsis of average people expressing a range of charged emotions—delight, frustration, indignation. Politics and Potholes offers this same experience, except the author of this spontaneity, catharsis, delight, frustration, and indignation is one person who was in a unique position as an editorialist, for Twain had an ever-growing sense of justice, the public position to be heard, the willingness to speak out, and the talent to say what was needed with the necessary force and humor.”—Arkansas Review

About the Author

Gary Scharnhorst, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at the University of New Mexico, is the author or editor of more than forty books, including Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews and Mark Twain in His Own Time, a collection of reminiscences by his friends and acquaintances; and biographies of Horatio Alger Jr., Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Bret Harte, Kate Field, and Julian Hawthorne. He is also the editor of the journal American Literary Realism and the editor in alternating years of the research annual American Literary Scholarship. He is currently at work on a multivolume biography of Twain.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Missouri; First Edition (December 16, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0826220460
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0826220462
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Mark Twain
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Mark Twain is the pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 - 1910). He was born and brought up in the American state of Missouri and, because of his father's death, he left school to earn his living when he was only twelve. He was a great adventurer and travelled round America as a printer; prospected for gold and set off for South America to earn his fortune. He returned to become a steam-boat pilot on the Mississippi River, close to where he had grown up. The Civil War put an end to steam-boating and Clemens briefly joined the Confederate army - although the rest of his family were Unionists! He had already tried his hand at newspaper reporting and now became a successful journalist. He started to use the alias Mark Twain during the Civil War and it was under this pen name that he became a famous travel writer. He took the name from his steam-boat days - it was the river pilots' cry to let their men know that the water was two fathoms deep.

Mark Twain was always nostalgic about his childhood and in 1876 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published, based on his own experiences. The book was soon recognised as a work of genius and eight years later the sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was published. The great writer Ernest Hemingway claimed that 'All modern literature stems from this one book.'

Mark Twain was soon famous all over the world. He made a fortune from writing and lost it on a typesetter he invented. He then made another fortune and lost it on a bad investment. He was an impulsive, hot-tempered man but was also quite sentimental and superstitious. He was born when Halley's Comet was passing the Earth and always believed he would die when it returned - this is exactly what happened.

Customer reviews

5 out of 5 stars
1 global rating

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2019
    I heard the author give a presentation about this book before it came out -- funniest lecture I ever heard at the Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College.. I perform as Twain and there's lots of interesting material here to work with. Book arrived on time and in great shape -- although I was distressed to see that a library had discarded such a recent book!