Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), better known as Mark Twain, grew up in small town Missouri. As a young man, he was frequently on the move, working as a typesetter, as an apprentice to a riverboat captain, and eventually as a reporter during the Civil War. During this time, he developed a distinctive writing style. His publication of The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County in 1865 brought him national attention. His writing always possessed a touch of humor, sometimes gentle, sometimes bitter. In 1876, he turned his mind back to the pleasant days of his childhood as he wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, both a classic humorous story of the exploits of a mischievous boy and an expose of contemporary American society. Since then, his fame has only increased.