Summary Note |
"Mark Twain is sometimes envisioned as a kind of nineteenth-century American offshoot of Voltaire. Like his French counterpart, he expressed a deeply felt indignation at religious hypocrisy and obscurantism, and peppered his satirical writings, especially in his later years, with stinging wit and iconoclastic fervor. This unique collection assembles writings in which Twain views the multifarious claims of religion - metaphysical, moral, and political - with a skeptical eye." "Containing many writings by Twain not generally available except in expensive academic publications, this excellent and affordable paperback edition has been annotated to elucidate historical, literary, religious, and other references. In addition, a thought-provoking, lengthy editor's introduction provides a historical overview of Twain's shifting attitudes toward religion."--BOOK JACKET. |