{"product_id":"2940000757987","title":"Tales of the Argonauts","description":"Bret Harte is the editor, writer and friend of whom Mark Twain wrote, \"He trimmed and schooled me patiently until he changed me from an awkward utterer of coarse grotesqueness to a writer of paragraphs and chapters.\" Harte hired Twain to write a story a week for the \u003ci\u003eCalifornian\u003c\/i\u003e in 1865, a time when Twain was an unknown, relatively untried writer. The author of \"The Luck of Roaring Camp,\" and \"The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County\" ended up creating a part of literary history that's still treasured today; perhaps it's the most enduring legacy of \"California's Gold.\" \u003ci\u003eTales of the Argonauts and Other Sketches\u003c\/i\u003e was first published in 1875, a time that Bret Harte was at his lowest literary and professional ebb. Harte had sought to lecture to paying audiences similarly to the incredibly successful tours of Mark Twain. But audiences didn't care for Harte's \"dandified\" appearance and lackluster in-person delivery. \u003ci\u003eTales of the Argonauts\u003c\/i\u003e does not include \"The Argonauts of '49,\" one of Harte's best-known tales. It does contain eight other tales told in Harte's inimitable style -- one which influenced generations of other writers of the American West, and which also document, largely, California history and the romance and adventure of the great \"Gold Rush.\"","brand":"B\u0026R Samizdat Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47146994041072,"sku":"2940000757987","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940000757987_p0.jpg?v=1763545519","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940000757987","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}