Life on the Mississippi

At once a romantic history of a mighty river, an autobiographical account of Twain's early steamboat days, and a storehouse of humorous anecdotes and sketches, here is the raw material from which Mark Twain wrote his finest novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi River, was host to riverboat travelers from around the world, providing a vigorous and variable atmosphere for the young Samuel Clemens to absorb. Clemens became a riverboat pilot and even chose his pen name--Mark Twain--from a term boatmen would call out signifying water depth at two fathoms, meaning safe clearance for travel. It was from this background that Life on the Mississippi emerged. It is an epochal record of America's growth, a stirring remembrance of her vanished past. And it earned for its author his first recognition as a serious writer.

With an Introduction by Justin Kaplan
and an Afterword by John Seelye

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Signet Book
Published: 03/03/2009
ISBN: 9780451531209
Pages: 400
Weight: 0.42lbs
Size: 6.76h x 4.18w x 1.08d
Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 10039 / Life on the Mississippi
Reading Level: 9.1 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 24