I Can't Believe it's Mark Twain

OK, let’s play a little free association game: I say, “Mark Twain.” You say … what? I’ll bet it’s either “Tom Sawyer” or “Huck Finn” … right? Now, what if I ask for the name of three authors that come to mind when I say, “Mark Twain?” “Come on, think a little … They’re right on the tip of your tongue … yes, yes” … “Stephen King, Robert Heinlein and Douglas Adams!” “Of Course!” “Wait” … “What?” “Mark Twain, Stephen King, Robert Heinlein and Douglas Adams?” “Have you lost your mind?” “Mark Twain never wrote horror or fantasy or things that are just plain weird.” “What are you talking about?”

If that’s your reaction, then might I suggest you take the time to check out and read The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts, edited by William M. Gibson. The Manuscripts are a fascinating collection of three versions of a story Twain was writing before he died in 1910.

The best of the three stories, in my opinion, is the last, No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger. This version of the tale, set in Austria in the year 1490, is narrated by one August Feldner, a sixteen-year-old printer’s apprentice. The print shop is located in run-down castle, which houses over a dozen people, including the print master and his family. August relates the events that occur in the castle and village after the arrival of a strange boy who says his name is “No. 44, New Series 864,962.”

After No. 44 arrives, the novel changes, from a story about a print shop and life in a quiet little Austrian village, to an eerie fantasy. It seems No. 44 has creative powers and he uses these powers to make duplicates of many of the novel's characters. The only difference between the created duplicates and their “real” counterparts is that the duplicates have no moral or ethical codes and they are not constrained by time or place. They are able to come and go at will, they do onerous things and very soon the quiet little Austrian village erupts in chaos.

Yes, No. 44 thinks it is all quite humorous. Unfortunately, real people suffer very real consequences as a result of No. 44’s “pranks.” Duplicates commit criminal and social mischief. Hard-earned reputations are ruined. The people are in an uproar and it’s impossible to lay blame at anyone’s feet, because it’s impossible to determine if a real person or a duplicate is responsible for any specific action.

August Feldner, No. 44’s confidant, has doubts about the “rightness” of 44’s little jokes. He does his best to convince No. 44 that people shouldn’t be played with like dolls, but 44 has an answer for everything.

By the way, did I mention that No. 44's unspoken name is Satan? Yes, believe it! No. 44 is the nephew of the “bad” Satan, “the only one in the family who ever sinned.” He’s an angel, come to visit the good people of the village.

This book has all the ingredients that make Mark Twain one of my favorite authors: great characters, tense situations, liars, humor, and political and religious commentary. The last two chapters of the book, the trial and Satan’s farewell speech, are disturbing to say the least.

If you are interested in reading Mark Twain from a little different vantage point, check out and read The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts.