The Cambridge Companion to Mark Twain offers new and thought provoking essays on an author of enduring pre-eminence in the American canon. The book is a collaborative project, assembled by scholars who have played crucial roles in the recent explosion of Twain criticism. Accessible enough to interest both experienced specialists and students new to Twain criticism, the essays examine Twain from a wide variety of critical perspectives, and include timely reflections by major critics on the hotly debated dynamics of race and slavery perceptible throughout his writing.The volume includes a chronology of Twain's life and a list of suggestions for further reading, to provide the students or general reader with sources for background as well as additional information.

"Almost every year sees the publication of a half dozen new books and dozens of articles about him, so one may fairly ask what remains to be said about Mark Twain that has not been said before. The answer, as this fine collection of vigorous essays demonstrates, is a great deal." Kent Rasmussen, Magill Book Reviews