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Name of Book: Mark Twain's Tales of the Macabre & Mysterious
Author: R. Kent Rasmussen
Publisher: Lyons Press
Publication Date: 6 Aug 2024
No. of Pages: 272
Format: Netgalley ARC
An enduring icon of American culture, Mark Twain is still widely read, carefully studied, and reinterpreted more than a century after his death. He is best known for humor and for his novels about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, but his writings extend far beyond the humorous and his immortal boy heroes. He wrote in a dizzying variety of genres, and much of his work resists categorization by exploring themes well outside the realms of normal human experience. Indeed, it would not be a stretch to say that some of his stories deal with characters and themes on the “far side” of human experience. His books such as The Prince and the Pauper and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, for example, place protagonists in improbably dimensions of time and space, while tales from lesser-known works address the spooky, grisly, and inexplicable. It is a world in which buffalos climb trees, elephants eat Bibles, dogs bark Morse code messages, and human beings commit terrible crimes, make incredible mistakes, and play fantastic tricks on one another. This is an entertaining collection of both mysteries and marvels by an icon of American culture and literature.
R. Kent Rasmussen is the holder of a UCLA doctorate in history and a retired reference-book editor. He has long been recognized as a leading world authority on Mark Twain, about whom he has published thirteen books. Those volumes include such now-standard reference works as Mark Twain A to Z; its expanded revision, Critical Companion to Mark Twain; and The Quotable Mark Twain. Mark Twain books that he has edited include four volumes of critical essays; several collections of Mark Twain’s own writings, including the Penguin Classics edition of Autobiographical Writings; and Mark Twain for Dog Lovers, a Lyons Press publication. He lives in Thousand Oaks, CA.
My Opinion
Mark Twain's Tales of the Macabre & Mysterious by R. Kent Rasmussen is a collection of psychological horror stories that surprised me, as I didn't expect Twain to write in this genre. While some of the stories successfully evoke an eerie vibe, the overall experience was a bit disappointing. Despite the book's intriguing illustrations, it failed to fully capture my attention. I had high hopes, but this collection didn't quite meet my expectations. I would give only 3 stars.
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