Roughing It

Mark Twain is an author that American readers – as well as readers from right across the world – keep on coming back to. His writings have become part of America's soul, and his life, character, wit, and genius have become the stuff of legend. Many of Twain's most famous works represent journeys of one sort or another, so it makes sense that the author was something of a wanderer himself in his lifetime, leaving his home in Missouri and heading out west – just as so many men and women did in the early to mid-19th century.An account of his travels out west – and beyond – is captured here, in the pages of Roughing It. Twain offers a fascinating glimpse into the dawn and development of a new nation – a vast, continent-sized nation coalescing slowly into a more unified whole. But perhaps just as interesting is the development of Twain's voice as a writer and the shaping of the rough and earthy humor that would eventually become synonymous with one of the America's best-known novelists. Read more