Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected biography/49

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), well-known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), which has been called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). He is extensively quoted. Twain was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.

Twain was very popular, and his keen wit and incisive satire earned praise from critics and peers. Upon his death he was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age", and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature". His book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court features a time traveler from contemporary America, using his knowledge of science to introduce modern technology to Arthurian England. This type of storyline would later become a common feature of the science fiction subgenre, Alternate history. Other of his works also contained elements which fall into the genre of science fiction or fantasy, including Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven, Letters from the Earth (a short story collection published posthumously), The Mysterious Stranger (an unfinished work published posthumously), and A Dog's Tale.