Mark Twain

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Mark Twain

Publisher Marketing: The Yankee is a product of nineteenth-century America and detests the unfairness inherent in sixth-century institutions of inherited rank and social stratification. He blames the Catholic Church for providing justifications for social inequality, and he wants to destroy the Church's potential for abuse by breaking it into separate sects that people could join at will. The Yankee is an idealist and believes firmly in the power of technology to improve people's lives and bring about positive social change. In the end, though, as R. L. Fisher observes, the book loses its idealistic tone, and the promise of technology falls short of the Yankee's lofty goals: For while it mocks the British monarchy, it also makes a mockery of Hank Morgan's hope that technology might further the moral improvement of humanity. Review Citations: Booklist 08/01/1993 pg. 2081 (EAN 9780886463243, Analog Audio Cassette) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 936 (EAN 9780520036215, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 934 (EAN 9780520036215, Hardcover) School Library Journal 11/01/2001 (EAN 9789626347188, Analog Audio Cassette) School Library Journal 11/01/2001 (EAN 9789626342183, Compact Disc) Publishers Weekly 08/30/2010 pg. 46 (EAN 9781400116072, Compact Disc) - *Starred Review Contributor Bio:  Twain, Mark Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was an American humorist and writer, who is best known for his enduring novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has been called "the Great American Novel." Raised in Hannibal, Missouri, Twain held a variety of jobs including typesetter, riverboat pilot, and miner before achieving nationwide attention for his work as a journalist with "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." He earned critical and popular praise for his wit and enjoyed a successful career as a public speaker in addition to his writing. Twain's works were remarkable for his ability to capture colloquial speech, although his adherence to the vernacular of the time has resulted in the suppression of his works by schools in modern times. Twain's birth in 1835 coincided with a visit by Halley's Comet, and Twain predicted, accurately, that he would "go out with it" as well, dying the day following the comet's return in 1910.