Those Extraordinary Twins

Mark Twain was extremely popular as a literary humorist, but financial difficulties led to an increased pessimism in his later works. One of these works, "Those Extraordinary Twins", was intended to be a comical story about conjoined twins, based on Giovanni and Giacomo Tocci, who lived in 19th century Italy. As the work evolved from farce to tragedy, Twain reconsidered his initial plans, splitting the work into two tales, the first being "Pudd'nhead Wilson".