The Writings of Mark Twain Volume XlX.

In this representative volume, "The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories" the reader will find twenty-four of Mark Twain's best shorter works. Classic and unforgettable tales that span the author's career are included, such as "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", which is Twain's most famous short story and was his first great success as an author. It is the unforgettable tale of Jim Smiley, the gambler who will bet on anything including...

A best-selling classic features six additional works on the joys and embarrassments of favorite holidays, in a volume that includes tales of tardy trick-or-treaters, the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to another culture, and a barnyard Secret Santa scheme gone awry.

A wonderful new collection of stories of magnificent bastards and lost souls. Meet the man who vacuums bewildered prairie dogs out of their burrows; a teenage girl who invites 45,000 MySpace friends to a house party; a man whose attempts to teach softball to a group of indolent advertising executives sparks an international crisis, and more.

The singer/songwriter displays his gift for creating witty, laid-back Southern stories in a collection of bizarre tales and thoughtful essays.

A humorous retelling of classic bedtime stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs, re-written to free them, according to the author, from the influences of "a flawed cultural past."

Stories about the lives of girls and women.

Helping organize a beauty pageant to raise money for the sheriff's department, recently married Miss Julia instructs contestants in the ways of poise and etiquette while settling squabbles in her new home.