The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg, and Other Stories and Essays

This collection of 15 pieces by Mark Twain displays, as Cynthia Ozick writes in her introduction, “the entire arsenal of his art: the occasionally reckless polemic, the derisive irony, the intelligent laughter, the verbal stilettos, the blunt country humor, the fervent despair, the hidden jeer, the relishing of palaver and tall tale, the impatient worldliness, and the brilliant forays of language.” “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg,” a dark and riveting dissection of a town’s hypocrisy, vanity, and misplaced pride, is one of Twain’s most ingenious and memorable stories. Whether anatomizing the dynamics of anti-Semitism in “Concerning the Jews” or “Stirring Times in Austria,” or looking back on his personal literary odyssey in “My Debut as a Literary Person,” Twain is lively and engaging. This volume also contains “My First Lie, and How I Got Out of It,” a remarkable essay that begins lightly, but soon turns into a razor sharp attack on humanity’s indifference to injustice.”