John F. Kennedy's Women

A comprehensive look at JFK's near-pathological approach to women and ...


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Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, is often called “the father of American literature.” His most famous works are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), which many critics regard as the great American novel. Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, the setting for both these novels. As a young man he worked as a printer in the East before becoming a riverboat pilot and then heading west to try his hand at mining. After a brief turn to newspaper work, he published in 1865 a humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," which brought him international attention. With his wit and satire he became a favorite American author and a friend to presidents, artists, captains of industry, and European royalty. Upon his death he was lauded as the greatest American humorist of his age.