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This is Mark Twain's passionate eulogy for his eldest daughter, who died from spinal meningitis aged 24. It provides an intimate portrait of his daughter and attempts to present what he experienced as her unique character.

Twain describes how he and his friend, Joe Twichell, tried to learn how to ride a bicycle in May of 1884. The bicycle was a new invention, and it proved to be more difficult than riding a horse. According to Twain, it was a painful and short-lived experience.

This 1899 essay describes Mark Twain's method of teaching historical dates to his children. It was first published posthumously in Harper's Monthly Magazine in December 1914.

In this brief, semi-autobiographical work, Mark Twain explores the controversy over the authorship of the Shakespearean literary canon. Applying satire, anecdote, and extensive quotation, he uses the debate over Shakespeare's real identity to satirize prejudice, intolerance, and self-importance.

The tale is told from the standpoint of a household pet. When a fire breaks out in the nursery, the dog risks her life to drag the baby to safety. In the process, her motives are misunderstood and she is cruelly beaten by the father of the family before the truth of the situation is discovered and she receives no end of praise. Later her puppy is killed by the father of the family to prove his opinion on optics to his scientist peers.

Twain reflects on the defining moment of his childhood. The incident occurred when a measles epidemic was raging in his hometown; fear was everywhere, and Twain was confined to the house for months. The turning point was when he left the house as he concluded that taking brave action was better than being smothered by fear.

"The Californian's Tale" is the story of a man, Henry, waiting for his wife to come home. The narrator, a stranger to the town, knows nothing of the circumstances. He discovers the tragic truth at a party thrown by Henry’s friends at his house.

A couple was promised a $30,000 inheritance from a rich relative on condition that it remains a secret. Through the years, they invest money, accumulating sizable assets, until they lose it all in a stock market crash. One day, they find out that the relative had died penniless, which means they yearned for an illusion their whole life long.

Mark Twain relates how he broke the news when he was still unknown. He was in Honolulu when the survivors from the harrowing open sea voyage of the clipper-ship Hornet arrive. He stayed up late to get the accounts of the sailors’ trials, writes through the night and relays a detailed account when the other reporters only had an outline report.

"The Invalid’s Story", an example of Mark Twain’s frontier-style humor, describes the misadventures of two men - Thompson and the narrator - on a train who mistake a gunbox and a rotting cheese for a corpse in a coffin. Thompson does not know much but his wild imagination has a strong influence on the naïve narrator. In the end, this situation leads to disaster.

This is a story within a story by Mark Twain. The one within is the tale of the gambler Jim Smiley and his jumping frog Dan’l. After many winning bets on Dan’l’s jumping ability, a cunning stranger comes along and that day Jim loses.

Mark Twain wrote this witty satire in response to a request by editors of the New York World to contribute a humorous essay describing his first lie. He used the opportunity for discussion on the nature of lying, including "the lie of silent assertion". He pointed out the difference between a spoken lie and any other, as well as the fact that we readily condemn a lie by an individual but rarely challenge the false assumptions on which entire nations and institutions base their existence.

Christmas Night with Satan has nothing to do with the supernatural and isn’t a classic Christmas tale. It’s instead the account of a little domestic dog who got out on Christmas Eve and ends up among a pack of strays. Nearly losing his life, he undergoes some hair raising adventures before being rescued.

"Luck" was published in 1891 in Harper's Magazine and received little attention at the time. The English military hero, Lord Arthur Scoresby, is an idiot who blunders through life on pure good luck. In the Crimean War, he gets confused between his right and left hand to lead a charge in the wrong direction, which surprises a Russian force and ensures an Allied victory.

Mark Twain compiled some of his experiences and experiments with telepathy in a fascinating article titled ‘Mental Telegraphy.’ In the opening paragraph he states that what many consider to be mere accident or ‘curious coincidence’ is no more accidental than is the sending and receiving of a telegram. He believed that minds resonate with one another by transferring ideas and messages to and fro.

How to Tell a Story is a classic essay by American humorist and writer Mark Twain.

I did a bad, bad thing. Thanks to a blank in my memory, I'm not sure what that thing was, but it was horrible enough to get me locked up in the mental ward for seven years. Horrible enough that my little sister won't even speak to me. But when I'm released back into a town determined to rub my unknown sins in my face, the past isn't the only thing that's haunting me. The four "imaginary" friends who made my childhood bearable barge into my life in a very real way.

As if falling for the ghosts of four murdered gangsters wasn't crazy enough, it turns out we've got a real live supervillain on our hands. One with mysterious powers that reach way farther than we could have imagined. And that villain has torn my sister away from me. I'll stop at nothing to bring her back and see my men get the vengeance they deserve. It's just a little hard to win a war when you're not really sure what kind of monster you're up against. Or how many you're up against, for that matter.

A whole family of monsters has menaced my home for far too long. And in the battle to take them down, one of resurrected gangsters I love may have lost his life all over again. But my men have already survived one set of murders. I made it out of the looney bin and rescued my sister. We've proven we don't back down...even when maybe we should.