Product Description

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) is Mark Twain's most popular book, and its hero is a national icon, celebrated as a distinctively American figure both at home and abroad. Tom Sawyer's bold spirit, winsome smile, and inventive solutions to the problems of everyday life in fictional St Petersburg - whether getting his friends to whitewash a fence for him, or escaping the demands of his vigilant Aunt Polly - have won him the hearts of generations. The very success of the novel has obscured its contradictions and the extent to which the author's response to contemporary cultural developments was a mixed one. "Tom Sawyer" is not only a deft comedy and a powerful celebration of childhood. It also reflects how Mark Twain was in the process of finding his distinctive voice, a voice with which he could express the conflicts he felt about coming of age in America.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1164961 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

About the Author
Lee Clark Mitchell took his MA at the University of Sussex.

Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a wonderful novel.
Tom Sawyer is one of my favorite books. It's a well written, truly American classic, that's just a lot of fun to read. The characters, Tom, Huck, Aunt Polly and Joe Harper, among others, are lively and colorful. The plot moves swiftly from scenes that are rioutously funny to scenes that are quite horrifying. And the book gives the reader an accurate picture of life in the South. But most importantly, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a very truthful account of childhood. Twain had the psychology of children nailed down, and this is apparent in almost every scene. He truly understood children, and that is why this book is a masterpiece.