{"product_id":"9781478635796","title":"Oral Communication : Skills, Choices, and Consequences","description":"He got out his worldly wealth and examined it — bits of toys, marble, and trash; enough to buy an exchange of work maybe, but not enough to buy as much as half an hour of pure freedom\".\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of those most irrepressible and exuberant characters in the history of literature, Tom Sawyer explodes onto the page in a whirl of bad behavior and incredible adventures.  Whether he is heaving clods of earth at his brother, faking a gangrenous toe, or trying to convince the world that he is dead, Tom's infectious energy and good-humor shine through.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Adventures of Tom sawyer\u003c\/i\u003e is Mark Twain's joyful and nostalgic recollection of tall tales from his own boyhood by the Mississippi some \"thirty or forty years ago\".  It was an instant success on its first publication in 1876, and has continued to delight children of all ages ever since.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSamuel Langhorne Clemens\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Missouri in 1835, the son of a lawyer.  Early in his childhood, the family moved to Hannibal, Missouri — a town which would provide the inspiration for St. Petersburg in \u003ci\u003eTom Sawyer\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHuckleberry Finn\u003c\/i\u003e.  After a period spent as a traveling printer, Clemens became a river pilot on the Mississippi; a time he would look back upon as his happiest.  When he turned to writing in his thirties, he adopted the pseudonym Mark Twain (\"Mark Twain\" is the cry of a Mississippi boatman taking dept measurements, and means \"two fathoms\"), and a number of highly successful publications followed, including \u003ci\u003eThe Prince and the Pauper\u003c\/i\u003e (1882), \u003ci\u003eHuckleberry Finn\u003c\/i\u003e (1884) and \u003ci\u003eA Connecticut Yankee\u003c\/i\u003e (1889).  His later life, however, was marked by personal tragedy and sadness, as well as financial difficulty.  In 1894 several businesses in which he had invested failed, and he was declared bankrupt.  Over the next fifteen years — during which he managed to regain some measure of financial independence — he saw the death of two of his beloved daughters, and his wife.  Increasingly bitter and depressed, Twain died in 1910, aged seventy-five.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe handsome volumes in The Collectors Library present great works of world literature in a handy hardback format.  Printed on high-quality paper and bound in real cloth, each complete and unabridged volume has a specially commissioned afterword, brief biography of the author and a further-reading list.  This easily accessible series offers readers the perfect opportunity to discover, or rediscover, some of the world's most endearing literary works.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe volumes in The Collector's Library are sumptuously produced, enduring editions to own, to collect and to treasure.","brand":"Waveland Pr Inc","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47044468769008,"sku":"9781478635796","price":31.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781478635796","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}