Roughing It (1872)

Mark Twain's memoirs of his youthful travels straddles the line between fiction and non-fiction. Regardless of how accurate these stories are, they are fun to read. ( )

Mark Twain describes his first move away from the Mississippi. He travels with his brother to Nevada and the new gold and silver rush town of Carson City (near Lake Tahoe). His later travels take him to San Francisco and Hawaii. His very funny tales are sometimes hard to believe but always very entertaining. ( )

This is, without a doubt, one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read. Like most other boys, I had read "Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in grammar school and loved them. They were, of course, written for young boys seeking adventure.
However, I hadn't read any of Twains' work in many years but the accident of pickinig up "Roughing It" and reading a few pages had me laughing and thoroughly enjoying Twains' presentation style and self-effacing humor.
His descriptions of the events, adventures, and places are priceless. Exaggerations all, of course, but told in a style that is distinctly his own.
Humor doesn't get any better than this story. His version is humorous, but in reality, many of his stories are simply amplified versions of real events written in his own style.
This book prompted me to read his other books. He was a talented author which we may not see again. For me, he was to American English, what Shakespeare was to Englands' English.
His creativity is highlighted in "A Yankee iin King Arthur's Court." The "Prince and the Pauper" is another tal well told. ( )

Similar in style to Innocents Abroad, but a bit more disjointed. I think that occurs because of the length of time this book covers. There's a lot about gold/silver mining and interesting characters from the West, as well as commentary on a trip to Hawaii, and some interesting takes on various peoples, including early Mormons (there's an interview with Brigham Young and additional appendixes about the Mormons). ( )

One of Twain's first books, Roughing It recounts his adventures traveling through Utah, Nevada, California, and Hawaii during the Civil War. While it's frequently funny, the modern reader is left to wince just as frequently at the casual racial insults, environmental destruction, and cultural desecration that he chronicles. ( )