Ira Fistell's Mark Twain: Three Encounters begins with a perceptive analysis of the author's major novels which will be a revelation to any reader of Twain. Ira proves that Tom Sawyer is anything but a kids book; explains why the ending of Huckleberry Finn, often dismissed as "just cheating," is actually the most brilliant part of the book; makes sense of the confusing and difficult Connecticut Yankee; and discovers the tragedy in The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson. Then this book explores how the places Twain live affected what he wrote, and concludes with a stunning explanation of the author's terrible guilt in his later years. No other study of Twain and his work compares with this one: it is the essential book on this subject.