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: #948361 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

Review
"The Oxford editions are charming--thank you."--Josephine Treuschler, College of Notre Dame
"This is much-needed publication: as clear, readable text of Tom Sawyer which is affordable also. The textual notes are very good, and Lee Mitchell's introduction is simply splendid."--Randal Allred, Brigham Young University--Hawaii
"A very readable text."--E.N. Feltskog, University of Wisconsin
"Important and useful to have a new scholarly edition of what is more than a preface to Huckleberry Finn."--Benjamin S. Lawson, Albany State College
"A welcome addition to an impressive, attractive series."--Kenneth Lee Taylor, University of Maine at Presque Isle
"A very well-edited text."--Robert Barton, Rutgers University
"Excellent and handsome."--Benjamin Franklin, University of South Carolina
"Lee Mitchell's introduction is a valuable contribution to criticism."--Robert Reyan, University of Pennsylvania

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

Customer Reviews

Growing into a Man
Tom Sawyer is the first great coming of age American novel. In addition, Tom Sawyer is one of the most endearing characters in American fiction. This wonderful book deals with all the challenges that any young person faces, and resolves them in exciting and unusual ways.

Like many young people, Tom would rather be having fun than going to school and church. This desire to enjoy life is always getting him into trouble, from which he finds unusual and imaginative solutions. One of the great scenes in this book has Tom persuading his friends to help him whitewash a fence by making them think that nothing could be finer than doing his punishment for playing hooky from school. When I first read this story, it opened up my mind to the potential power of persuasion.

Tom also is given up for dead and has the unusual experience of watching his own funeral and hearing what people really thought of him. That's something we all should be able to do. By imagining what people will say at our funeral, we can help establish the purpose of our own lives. Mark Twain has given us a powerful tool for self-examination in this wonderful sequence.

Tom and Huck Finn also witness a murder, and have to decide how to handle the fact that they were not supposed to be there and their fear of retribution from the murderer, Injun Joe.

Girls are a part of Tom's life, and Becky Thatcher and he have a remarkable adventure in a cave with Injun Joe. Any young person will remember the excitement of being near someone they cared about alone in this vignette.

Tom stands for the freedom that the American frontier offered to everyone. His aunt Polly represents the civilizing influence of adults and towns. Twain sets up a rewarding novel that makes us rethink the advantages of both freedom and civilization. In this day of the Internet frontier, this story can still provide valuable lessons about listening to our inner selves and acting on what they have to say. Enjoy looking for fun in new ways!

A classic story of boyhood
Whatever age you are, this book is sure to enjoyed by all. Some people will read it as a purely entertaining account of the childhood of an over-imaginative but loveable boy. Even today, Toms exploits reverberate with growing up, and the pure joy of being young and free. Sadly, in a world of growing regulation and overprotectiveness by parents, some of the adventures of Tom Sawyer will not sadly be enjoyed by todays average twelve-year-old, but are still sure to be understood and provide amusement to all young people.

It is difficult to compare this novel with Huckleberry Finn, and at times seems to be written by a different author. That said, it typifies much of Mark Twain, and the area of the US in which he grew up, without relating too much to the serious issues that lie just under the surface of Huck Finn.

Overall, it is a book that deserves to be read, preferably as a child, and by those [slightly older people] that remember growing up and getting up to some of Toms adventures as a child, and want to reminisce.

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.