| Life on the Mississippi | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the original U.S. edition, 1883. |
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| Author | Mark Twain |
| Country | U.S./England |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Memoir |
| Publisher | James R. Osgood & Co., Boston (U.S. edition) Chatto & Windus, London (English edition) |
| Publication date | 1883 |
Life on the Mississippi is a memoir by Mark Twain detailing his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before and after the American Civil War.
The book begins with a brief history of the river from its discovery by Hernando de Soto in 1542.[1] It continues with anecdotes of Twain's training as a steamboat pilot, as the 'cub' of an experienced pilot. He describes, with great affection, the science of navigating the ever-changing Mississippi River. This section was first published in 1876, titled Old times on the Mississippi.
In the second half, the book describes Twain's return, many years later, to travel on a steamboat from St. Louis to New Orleans. He describes the competition from railroads, the new, large cities, and his observations on greed, gullibility, tragedy, and bad architecture. He also tells some stories that are most likely tall tales.
Simultaneously published in 1883 in the U.S. and in England, it is said to be the first book to be submitted to a publisher as a typewritten manuscript.[2]
The book was made into a TV movie for American public television in 1980, with David Knell as Sam Clemens. The story uses many tall tales from the book, which are woven into a fictional narrative.
See also
External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Life on the Mississippi |
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- Life on the Mississippi at Project Gutenberg
- Life on the Mississippi from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- IMDB entry for PBS movie
- Images of First London Edition
- Images of First U.S. Edition
References
- ^ Twain, Mark; Clemens, Samuel L. (2000). Life on the Mississippi. Mineola, NY: Dover. p. 3. ISBN 978-0486414263."[...] De Soto, the first white man who ever saw the Mississippi River, saw it in 1542 [...]"
- ^ "The First Typewriter". Rehr, Darryl. http://home.earthlink.net/~dcrehr/firsttw.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
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