Christian Science

This witty, caustic work is Mark Twain's extended attack on Christian Science and its founder, Mary Baker Eddy, who he once described as the "queen of frauds and hypocrites." In 1898, when he set out to write this book, Twain feared that Christian Science would spread so rapidly that it would control Congress by the 1930's. Twain, having suffered the intense sorrow and anguish of the death of two of his children, and later of his beloved wife, Olivia, in 1904, reacted savagely to the claim of Christian Science that pain, sickness, and death do not exist. When Harper's refused to publish Christian Science in 1903, Twain interpreted the rejection as suppression and wrote, "The situation is not barren of humor. I had been doing my best to show in print that the Xn Scientist cult has become a power in the land - well, here is the proof: it has scared the biggest publisher in the Union." In this offensive against Mrs. Eddy, Twain analyzes her greed, her lust for power, her self-dedication, and her incoherent writing. He examines the rules and by-laws of the church with all the strength of his formidable debating skills. Christian Science was nine years in the making - begun in 1898 and finally published in 1907. This is the first paperback edition of a book that was unavailable to the general public for more than fifty years.