2009: #82 – A Pen Warmed Up in Hell (Mark Twain)

Book #82 was A Pen Warmed Up in Hell, a collection of letters and essays written by Mark Twain.  The back of the book reads:

"Here is a book that is a pleasure to recommend. . . . A collection to be dipped into time and time again."Los Angeles Times "Raging, satiric, devastatingly caustic and witty." – Publishers Weekly

It’s been several years since I’ve read anything by Twain, and I’d forgotten what a captivating writer he is.  Once you start reading, it’s difficult to not be sucked in to what he is saying.  Twain was no wallflower.  He had opinions, and he wasn’t afraid to let you know them.  Most of his commentary here is centered on U.S. actions in the Philippines during the Spanish-American war, and on religion and the human condition.  The most amazing thing to me about this was that you could take what he says about war and put it in the New York Times two years ago and it would be completely relevant. It really illustrates the adage, "the more things change, the more they stay the same".

Page count: 211 | Approximate word count: 63,300

2008: Matrimony (Joshua Henkin)
2007: Split Second (Alex Kava)
2006: Ruby (V.C. Andrews)

Used in these Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge 2009; A-Z Challenge 2009;