When the young American, Henry Adam accidentally finds himself alone and penniless in London, he unwittingly becomes the subject of an astounding bet between two brothers. He is presented with a bank note for one million pounds, to use as he pleases for a month. One brother believes the note will prove useless to him. The other believes that, even though nobody will be able to offer him change, the American’s mere possession of the bank note will mean that plenty of people will offer him credit, believing him to be wealthy. But as Adam begins his strange adventures in London society, the tale takes an amazing twist.
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"Good classic story from Twain. I was waiting for some twist of unfortunate events to fall upon the main character, but it never really came. Still, a good book nonetheless. "
— Jason (4 out of 5 stars)
" I love it!! Humour n its full form rules the story!! Mark Twain's story's main product is always this humour! "
— Dana, 4/4/2011" This is actually in a collected book of Twain, but I wanted to rate the story separately. Nice scenario, but a little too cute in resolving. "
— Patrick, 4/16/2009" Mark Twain's works are classic, and, in this reviewer's opinion, the best that the literary world will ever see. This short story is quintessential Twain. "
— Brian, 1/26/2009" confirms my love of Mark Twain for his witty, unselfconscious skill with satire. "
— charlotte, 5/14/2008Mark Twain, pseudonym of Samuel L. Clemens (1835–1910), was born in Florida, Missouri, and grew up in Hannibal on the west bank of the Mississippi River. He attended school briefly and then at age thirteen became a full-time apprentice to a local printer. When his older brother Orion established the Hannibal Journal, Samuel became a compositor for that paper and then, for a time, an itinerant printer. With a commission to write comic travel letters, he traveled down the Mississippi. Smitten with the riverboat life, he signed on as an apprentice to a steamboat pilot. After 1859, he became a licensed pilot, but two years later the Civil War put an end to the steam-boat traffic.
In 1861, he and his brother traveled to the Nevada Territory where Samuel became a writer for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, and there, on February 3, 1863, he signed a humorous account with the pseudonym Mark Twain. The name was a river man’s term for water “two fathoms deep” and thus just barely safe for navigation.
In 1870 Twain married and moved with his wife to Hartford, Connecticut. He became a highly successful lecturer in the United States and England, and he continued to write.
Cathy Dobson is the author of Planet Germany and a narrator of audiobooks.