Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known to most as Mark Twain, was a quintessential American writer who spent much of his life traveling around the world. Along the way, he encountered colorful characters, strange cultures, and a variety of adventures (and misadventures), all of which he incorporated into his travel writing¿writing that re?ects Twain¿s matchless eye for irony, humor, and, now and then, tragedy.