The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson - Version 2: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson - Version 2, credited to Mark Twain, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

Librivox recording of The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain read by John Greenman. It was published in 1893–1894 by Century Magazine in seven installments, and is a detective story with some racial themes. The plot of this novel is a detective story, in which a series of identities — the judge’s murderer, Tom, Chambers — must be sorted out. This structure highlights the problem of identity and one’s ability to determine one’s own identity. Broader issues of identity are the central ideas of this novel. One of Twain’s major goals in this book was to exploit the true nature of Racism at that period. Twain used comic relief as a way to divulge his theme. The purpose of a comic relief is to address his or her opinion in a less serious way, yet persuade the reader into thinking the writers thoughts. Twain’s use of satire is visible throughtout the book. Twain’s use of colloquialism(dialect) and local color as features of Naturalism to convey his theme, is impressive and ahead for his time.(Summary by Wikipedia)

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson - Version 2
• Author credits: Mark Twain
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 24
• Listed recording duration: 5:23:35

Catalogue topics

• humor

Track guide

1. 00 - A Whisper to the Reader — 3:30
2. 01 - Pudd'nhead Wins his Name — 11:36
3. 02 - Dricoll Spares His Slaves — 15:02
4. 03 - Roxy Plays a Shrewd Trick — 12:05
5. 04 - The Ways of the Changelings — 16:45
6. 05 - The Twins Thrill Dawson's Landing — 10:44
7. 06 - Swimming in Glory — 10:23
8. 07 - The Unknown Nymph — 6:48
9. 08 - Marse Tom Tramples His Chance — 18:54
10. 09 - Tom Practices Sycophancy — 10:13
11. 10 - The Nymph Revealed — 10:09
12. 11 - Pudd'nhead's Thrilling Discovery — 26:56
13. 12 - The Shame of Judge Driscoll — 11:46
14. 13 - Tom Stares at Ruin — 12:51
15. 14 - Roxana Insists Upon Reform — 19:57
16. 15 - The Robber Robbed — 17:26
17. 16 - Sold Down the River — 8:09
18. 17 - The Judge Utters Dire Prophesy — 4:51
19. 18 - Roxana Commands — 22:45
20. 19 - The Prophesy Realized — 17:30
21. 20 - The Murderer Chuckles — 15:55
22. 21 Chapter 21 Doom — 25:23
23. 22 - Conclusion — 4:45
24. 23 - author's note to those extraordinary twins — 9:35

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.