World Classics (Abe Books): The Mysterious Stranger (Paperback)

from AltheaAnn

A gloriously nihilistic tale of a village visited by a terribly amoral angel named Satan. While undeniably humorous in many ways, it's also a bitter indictment, not just of religion of all kinds, but of the hypocrisy of human nature. Wonderful. (Laughing out loud, because I just read the other re...

from jefware

Mark Twain's strangest most cynical tale. Pure Twain without the sugary humor. An existential masterpiece. A solipsistic nightmare.

from iddrazin

Mark Twain (1835-1910) uses this novel to mock the conventional ideas about God: that God is a loving ever-present entity who wants to help people and reward people who do what he wants done and punishes people who disobey him. He sets his parable in Austria hinting that Austria is no different t...

from Devil_llama

A delightful tale of a young stranger who comes to town and befriends three young friends, one of them the narrator of the story. The young man has some peculiar habits, at least to the minds of the young boys, not the least of which is a total lack of compassion for the plight of the human. Stil...

from CJ82487

Not one of my favorite Twain works, but definitely embodies the dark and cynical sense of humor found in his later years.