Reviews

The American Claimant by Mark Twain

warrenl's review against another edition

3.0

Twain's incredible wit and imagination is always present, but sometimes The American Claimant descends into plain silliness, and this mars the novel for me.

steven_nobody's review against another edition

4.0

This reminded me of Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit in that it was a big surprise. Very funny. Reminded me of a sitcom. I don't love this but would read again someday,

msand3's review against another edition

2.0

A farcical tale of chicanery that is as grating as its protagonist, who also appeared in a minor role in [b:The Gilded Age|98906|The Gilded Age|Mark Twain|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320501488l/98906._SY75_.jpg|3314995]. But I didn’t remember him, partly because I read that novel 18 years ago, and partly because I was equally unimpressed with it. I loved Twain’s voice when I was younger, but I have grown to find him exceedingly coarse and annoying -- much the same criticism leveled by his frenemy, Willa Cather. Like Tom Wolfe in the late 20th century, Twain is such an apt chronicler of his times that he tends to come too close to embodying that which he ridicules. In the case of Twain, it is the vulgar American. Despite the fact that I agree whole-heartedly with Twain’s charge that Americans are defined by their constantly falling for buffoonish charlatans (see also: TRUMP, Donald J.), I struggled to appreciate Twain’s off-putting, absurd tone. Perhaps recommended for those who like Twain's fiction, but I will stick to his memoirs and travelogues.