The Devil's Race-Track

Mark Twain's "Great Dark" Writings, The Best from Which Was the Dream? and Fables of Man

Mark Twain

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780520238930
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780520930223
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: North American Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Mark Twain explores the darker side of life in these lesser-known later writings dealing with personal tragedies, nightmarish world events, and a doubtful cosmic order. He views his own situation as that of a ship trapped in a fearsome Bermuda Triangle-like region, the Devil's Race-Track. He sees history as a treadmill of endlessly and monotonously repeated events. And he conceives of a universal food chain, a vast round of devourers who in their turn become victims, humankind and God included. The tone of these writings is lightened considerably by Mark Twain's sagely ironic humor and his warmth, which together balance his tough-mindedness. And even when he shows the human race caught in some vicious circle, he may be seen courageously seeking a way out and at times believing he has found it.
Mark Twain explores the darker side of life in these lesser-known later writings dealing with personal tragedies, nightmarish world events, and a doubtful cosmic order. He views his own situation as that of a ship trapped in a fearsome Bermuda Triangle-li

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• A Note on the Texts
• Introduction
• Little Bessie
• Little Nelly Tells a Story Out of Her Own Head
• The Ten Commandments
• Thoughts of God
• The Synod of Praise
• The Passenger’s Story.
• The Enchanted Sea-Wilderness
• Which Was the Dream?
• The Great Dark BEFORE IT HAPPENED. STATEMENT BY MRS. EDWARDS.
• The Mad Passenger
• Which Was It?
• 3,000 Years Among the Microbes
• The Refuge of the Derelicts
• The Fable of the Yellow Terror
• Passage from “Glances at History” (suppressed.) Date, 9th century
• Passage from “Outlines of History” (suppressed.) Date, 9th century
• Passage from a Lecture
• History 1,000 Years from Now
• Old Age