A Telephonic Conversation

by Mark Twain

This is more a satirical essay than an actual short story, but it makes me smile.

The first telephone was demonstrated at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. By 1880, many wealthier families were using the new communication device regularly and one of the 19th century’s best known authors and satirists observed some anecdotal differences in the way men and women communicate.

Samuel Clemens better known as Mark Twain is one of the most famous American authors of all time. This story was penned 4 years after his success with Tom Sawyer and about 5 years before he completed Huckleberry Finn. In 1884 he formed his own publishing company which went on to posthumously publish the best-selling memoirs of President Ulysses S. Grant.