--- title: "What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain — Classic Ebook | Publica…" description: "Read a free sample of What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain at Publica Now — a public-domain classic ebook, readable online." canonical: "https://publica.now/creators/vito/works/what-is-man-and-other-essays" --- Literary # What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain [ V Vito ](https://publica.now/creators/vito) Follow $2.99 [ Sign in to buy ](https://publica.now/access?redirect=%2Fcheckout%2Fwhat-is-man-and-other-essays) Secure payment on Stripe. publica.now never sees your card. Share Link copied Format epub Published May 02, 2026 Rating No reviews yet ![What Is Man? and Other Essays](https://fls-a13cb2d7-1b3e-4883-a0bd-297afd110a11.367be3a2035528943240074d0096e0cd.r2.cloudflarestorage.com/works/01kqn0fe2e7nxq3f1t66cstnq3/editions/2026-09-06-html-v1/cover.png?X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=d29ce3bb571c165c97a702f29f7aee93%2F20261020%2Fauto%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261020T173202Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-Signature=bdd0f73c06ce4f2781a095be381bb97352dbac28079a1efa3ea73ee059bfb2dd) ## About this work What is man? A machine shaped by forces beyond his choosing—or something more? In the title essay, Mark Twain takes up that unsettling question with characteristic audacity. Around it gathers a lively and surprising collection: memories of life’s turning points, reflections on history and liberty, a moving account of the death of his daughter Jean, and sharp observations on education, religion, tobacco, language, and literature. Twain finds comedy in a disastrous bicycle lesson, politics in the life of a beehive, and absurdity in the grand claims of scholars and schoolchildren. He travels through Switzerland and Bayreuth, considers William Dean Howells, challenges assumptions about Shakespeare, and proposes a radically simplified alphabet. Across these essays, humor and seriousness continually change places, revealing a writer alert to human folly, grief, invention, and self-deception. This Publica.now Classics edition includes a new typographic cover and publisher opening and closing pages. Sample ## Take a look inside WHAT IS MAN? AND OTHER ESSAYS By Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910) CONTENTS WHAT IS MAN? THE DEATH OF JEAN THE TURNING-POINT OF MY LIFE HOW TO MAKE HISTORY DATES STICK THE MEMORABLE ASSASSINATION A SCRAP OF CURIOUS HISTORY SWITZERLAND, THE CRADLE OF LIBERTY AT THE SHRINE OF ST. WAGNER WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS ENGLISH AS SHE IS TAUGHT A SIMPLIFIED ALPHABET AS CONCERNS INTERPRETING THE DEITY CONCERNING TOBACCO THE BEE TAMING THE BICYCLE IS SHAKESPEARE DEAD? WHAT IS MAN? I a. Man the Machine. b. Personal Merit \[The Old Man and the Young Man had been conversing. The Old Man had asserted that the human being is merely a machine, and nothing more. The Young Man objected, and asked him to go into particulars and furnish his reasons for his position.\] Old Man. What are the materials of which a steam-engine is made? Young Man. Iron, steel, brass, white-metal, and so on. O.M. Where are these found? Y.M. In the rocks. O.M. In a pure state? Y.M. No—in ores. O.M. Are the metals suddenly deposited in the ores? Y.M. No—it is the patient work of countless ages. O.M. You could make the engine out of the rocks themselves? Y.M. Yes, a brittle one and not valuable. O.M. You would not require much, of such an engine as that? Y.M. No—substantially nothing. O.M. To make a fine and capable engine, how would you proceed? Y.M. Drive tunnels and shafts into the hills; blast out the iron ore; crush it, smelt it, reduce it to pig-iron; put some of it through the Bessemer process and make steel of it. Mine and treat and combine several metals of which brass is made. O.M. Then? Y.M. Out of the perfected result, build the fine engine. O.M. You would require much of this one? [ Sign in to buy ](https://publica.now/access?redirect=%2Fcheckout%2Fwhat-is-man-and-other-essays) The sample continues in the full work. [ #American essays ](/search?query=American+essays) [ #human nature ](/search?query=human+nature) [ #social commentary ](/search?query=social+commentary) [ #biography ](/search?query=biography) [ #humor ](/search?query=humor) [ #autobiography ](/search?query=autobiography) ## Reviews No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts. [Sign in to leave a review](https://publica.now/access?redirect=%2Fcreators%2Fvito%2Fworks%2Fwhat-is-man-and-other-essays) No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts. 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