Fashioned from the same experiences that would inspire the masterpiece Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi is Mark Twain’s most brilliant and most personal nonfiction work. It is at once an affectionate evocation of the vital river life in the steamboat era and a melancholy reminiscence of its passing after the Civil War, a priceless collection of humorous anecdotes and folktales, and a unique glimpse into Twain’s life before he began to write.
Written in a prose style that has been hailed as among the greatest in English literature, Life on the Mississippi established Twain as not only the most popular humorist of his time but also America’s most profound chronicler of the human comedy.
The "Body of the Nation"
1.THE RIVER AND ITS HISTORY
2.THE RIVER AND ITS EXPLORERS
3.FRESCOES FROM THE PAST
4.THE BOY'S AMBITION
5.I WANT TO BE A CUB-PILOT
6.A CUB-PILOT'S EXPERIENCE
7.A DARING DEED
8.PERPLEXING LESSONS
9.CONTINUED PERPLEXITIES
10.COMPLETING MY EDUCATION
11.THE RIVER RISES
12.SOUNDING
13.A PILOT'S NEEDS
14.RANK AND DIGNITY OF PILOTING
15.THE PILOT'S MONOPOLY
16.RACING DAYS
17.CUT-OFFS AND STEPHEN
18.I TAKE A FEW EXTRA LESSONS
19.BROWNAND I EXCHANGE COMPLIMENTS
20.A CATASTROPHE
21.A SECTION IN MY BIOGRAPHY
22.I RETURN TO MY MUTTONS
23.TRAVELING INCOGNITO
24.MY INCOGNITO IS EXPLODED
25.FROM CAIRO TO HICKMAN
26.UNDER FIRE
27.SOME IMPORTED ARTICLES
28.UNCLE MUMFORD UNLOADS
29.A FEW SPECIMEN BRICKS
30.SKETCHES BY THE WAY
31.A THUMB-PRINT AND WHAT CAME OF IT
32.THE DISPOSAL OF A BONANZA
33.REFRESHMENTS AND ETHICS
34.TOUGH YARNS
35.VICKSBURG DURING THE TROUBLE
36.THE PROFESSOR'S YARN
37.THE END OF THE "GOLD DUST"
38.THE HOUSE BEAUTIFUL
39.MANUFACTURES AND MISCREANTS
40.CASTLES AND CULTURE
41.THE METROPOLIS OF THE SOUTH
42.HYGIENEAND SENTIMENT
43.THE ART OF INHUMATION
44.CITY SIGHTS
45.SOUTHERN SPORTS
46.ENCHANTMENTS AND ENCHANTERS
47."UNCLE REMUS" AND MR.CABLE
48.SUGAR AND POSTAGE
49.EPISODES IN PILOT LIFE
50.THE "ORIGINAL JACOBS"
51.REMINISCENCES
52.A BURNING BRAND
53.MY BOYHOOD HOME
54.PASTAND PRESENT
55.A VENDETTA AND OTHER THINGS
56.A QUESTION OF LAW
57.AN ARCHANGEL
58.ON THE UPPER RIVER
59.LEGENDS AND SCENERY
60.SPECULATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
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