Experience of the McWilliams's with Membranous Croup

by Mark Twain

Short story.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Humor

Unknown Binding

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.

Reviews

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the funniest stories I have read by Mr. Twain. I was actually laughing out loud by the end!

[Mela · Rating 3 out of 5]

A funny short story about a panicked (perhaps too caring) mother and her husband (and father) who tries to cope between his sense and his wife.

[April Helms · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hilarious story if you can ignore the somewhat misogynistic tones. A couple, on hearing their daughter cough, are worried that she may have membranous croup (also known as diphtheria or croup). This was a valid fear- historically, diphtheria was one of those killer diseases, especially for young children, and in the story it had been making its rounds in their community. While waiting for the doctor, the mother especially races around the house to try to keep her baby safe, her daughter comfortable and her husband at her beck and call.

[Gabriel Garza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have lived this story many times and in many ways.

[Antonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh how I laughed so hard when reading this. It is comical. I can only imagine if this were written in the present age; it would produce an uproar