Life on the Mississippi
| Life on the Mississippi | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the original U.S. edition, 1883. |
|
| Author(s) | 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 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 624 [1] |
| Preceded by | The Prince and the Pauper |
| Followed by | Adventures of Huckleberry Finn |
Life on the Mississippi is a memoir by Mark Twain, of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War, and also a travel book, recounting his trip along the Mississippi many years after the War.
The book begins with a brief history of the river from its discovery by Hernando de Soto in 1542.[2] 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 in a section that was first published in 1876, entitled "Old Times on the Mississippi".
In the second half, Twain narrates his trip many years later on a steamboat from St. Louis to New Orleans. He describes the competition from railroads, and the new, large cities, and adds 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 United States and Great Britain, it is said to be the first book submitted to a publisher as a typewritten manuscript.[3]
The book was made into a TV movie for American public television in 1980, with David Knell as Sam Clemens (Mark Twain's real name). The movie used many tall tales from the book, woven into a fictional narrative. In 2010, Life on the Mississippi was adapted into a stage musical, with book and lyrics by Douglas M. Parker and music by Denver Casado, receiving productions that year in Kansas City, MO and Door County, WI.
[edit] References
- ^ Facsimile of the original 1st edition.
- ^ Twain, Mark; Clemens, Samuel L. (2000). Life on the Mississippi. Mineola, NY: Dover. p. 3. ISBN 978-0486414263.and
Facsimile copy of the First edition, page 26"[...] 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.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Life on the Mississippi |
 |
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
.JPG){kind=small} |
This article about a biographical or autobiographical book is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
