Tall Tales and Short Stories: An Amusing Compilation of Mark Twain's Short Stories

Classic Novels, Volume 1

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Douglas S. Pullar

Length: 55 mins

Publisher's summary

"May you always keep your youth." - Mark Twain

Tall Tales and Short Stories is a hilarious collection of Mark Twain's lesser known works that will have you chuckling long after you've finished the book. Rediscover one of America's greatest humorists and get your funny on! The stories found in this book include:

• "The War Prayer"
• "Political Economy"
• "My Watch: An Instructive Tale"
• "The Story of the Bad Little Boy"
• "The Story of the Good Little Boy"

This compilation will open up Mark Twain's work to a whole new generation of listeners!

Public Domain (P)2015 Leon Cutajar

Several Mark Twain Short Works, Well Delivered

Would you listen to Tall Tales and Short Stories: An Amusing Compilation of Mark Twain's Short Stories again? Why?

In an hour of audio, all we could expect is a few selections of the incredibly prolific Mark Twain. And indeed this is only Volume 1 in a series of unabridged performances of Twain's short works. We can only hope they will all be of this quality.

The readings are quite different in character, and not necessarily connected in any way. But each is memorable in its own way and worth a second listen.

The first selection is perhaps the most interesting, 'The War Prayer,' a moving short story / prose poem which was left unpublished at Mark Twain's death in 1910 because of its controversial anti-war content. Several modern film adaptations of the work have appeared.

Two short stories are farsical, to the point of silliness, both coming from the 1875 Twain collection, Sketches New and Old: 'My Watch' and 'Political Economy.' The final two are an apt pair, the first published in 1865 in The Californian, an early criticism of simple-minded Sunday school morality, 'The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Didn't Come To Grief,' as well as his 1870 work first published in the Piccadilly Annual, 'The Story of the Good Little Boy Who Did Not Prosper,' another exploration of the misleading, implausible plotting and consequences in Sunday school books.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This was an easy audio book to listen to in one sitting - an engaging performance.

Any additional comments?

I'm looking forward to Volume 2. Is there a way to put the short story titles with the Audible section headings? That would be useful.

good match

The readers voice and cadence went perfectly with Mark Twains stories! This was a fun compilation of shorts.