Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories

MP3 Audio CD. Mark Twain, the American writer and humorist who was born in 1835 during a visit by Halley's Comet and who died on its return, 75 years later, is well-known for ?The adventures of Tom Sawyer? and the ?Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? (also known as "the Great American Novel"). He was very popular and some of his friends were European royalty, presidents, industrial and artists of his time. Due to his wit and satire, he was referred as the greatest humorist of his age. He started as an apprentice with a printer then worked as a typesetter, he became a pilot on the Mississippi River, he failed at mining for gold and finally turned to journalism, which helped him to find his true calling: writing. He started with humorous stories and travelogues which were highly appreciated.

Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories is a collection that includes 13 short stories and essays, starting with ?The Loves Of Alonzo Fitz? and ending with ?Concerning the American language? and ?Rogers?. Some of these short stories are very good, others are only average and a few are even a bit odd, although their message is very clear and, as a whole, the collection is well worth reading, because it provides enough evidence of Mark Twain's talent and entertaining nature, through anecdote and observations of daily existence, ending up as a chronicle of human hypocrisies and vanities, combining humor with social criticism and sturdy narrative, in a way that made him unique in literature.

Twain's satire in his short stories and novels is sometimes gentle, other times dark and pointed straight to characters such as religious hypocrites, lying politicians, bored aristocrats or other close-minded people living in small towns. This is what makes Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories entertaining and surprising all throughout.