Here, in high style, is the story of a wisecracking adventurer who came of age in the untamed West. A rebel who surprised himself by becoming the most famous American of his time.

The man who made frogs famous -- Eggs, three cents a dozen -- The gingerbread kid -- Upside down and backward -- The riverboat rajah -- The cruel river -- Sam and the fortune-teller -- Two weeks as a warrior -- The buffalo that climbed a tree -- Thieves, murderers, and desperadoes -- Gold, ten cents an acre -- Sam and the petrified man -- The duel at dawn -- Sam in the big city -- The slouching man -- The talking bluejay -- The water boy from Jackass Hill -- Good-bye, Sam; hello, Mark -- The sandwich chronicles -- The trouble begins at 8 -- The great holdup -- Twain attempts to behave -- Golden Gate, so long -- Afterstory -- The truth, more or less -- A Mark Twain sampler: "The celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County" -- A Mark Twain time line.