Mark Twain is one of the great American Writers. Author of numerous short stories, comedies, historical fantasies, and novels, he is now most famous for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both of which drew heavily on his childhood experiences. Although the personal difficulties that befell him in his final years gave a somber and troubled tone to his later writings, his work is characterized by an often ingenious use of comedy and satire.