Mark Twain On Crime

Edward A. Grainger at criminalelement.com offers a piece on Mark Twain humorous like at crime.

Lionizing Murderers” (from Sketches New and Old, 1875)

There’s no shortage of killers who have become ‘celebrities’ in our lifetime, the most infamous probably being Charles Manson—his likeness has been plastered on T-shirts, and he even penned a song that appeared on a Guns N’ Roses album. Well, nothing is new and in Twain’s short story “Lionizing Murderers” the unnamed central character (described as a public lecturer) goes to Madame, a fortune teller, who recounts his bouts of crime—theft and arson, among other things—and predicts more dreadful developments for the lecturer when he goes to Congress! His future holds prison time, followed by his hanging. But she cushions the blow somewhat by reassuring him that “an imposing procession composed of clergymen, officials, citizens generally, and young ladies walking pensively two and two and bearing bouquets and immortelles” will be with him to the bitter end.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2015/01/mark-twain-on-celebrity-killers-the-sane-insane-and-meddling-misguided-magistrates-short-fiction-satire-edward-a-grainger?image