Letters From the Earth

"The most impressive contribution to books by Mark Twain since The Mysterious Stranger of 1916... The attitude is that of Swift, the intellectual contempt is that of Voltaire, and the imagination is that of one of the great masters of American writing." -New York Times Book Review

'Letters from the Earth' contains almost no material that was published during Twain's lifetime, and the manuscript was not even approved by his executors until 1962. This is classic Mark Twain: razor-sharp, wittily inventive, and wildly funny. His voice is as ferocious and piercing as ever, capable of shocking the listener with the truth and making them laugh in the most unexpected places.

He positions himself as the Father of History in this collection by summarizing and explaining the events that occurred from the Garden of Eden to the Fall and the Flood, as well as by translating Adam's and his ancestors' written records down through the generations. In addition to suggestions for a more straightforward alphabet and a parody of etiquette books, there are comments on James Fenimore Cooper, English architecture, and French civilization. Exuberantly eclectic is the best way to describe this work.