L'étranger mystérieux

In his last years, Mark Twain had become a respected literary figure whose

opinions were widely sought by the press. He had also suffered a series of

painful physical, economic, and emotional losses.

_The Mysterious Stranger_ , published posthumously in 1916 and belonging to

Twain's "dark" period, belies the popular image of the affable American

humorist. In this anti-religious tale, Twain denies the existence of a benign

Providence, a soul, an after-life, and even reality itself. As the Stranger in

the story asserts, "nothing exists; all is a dream."