Though known throughout the world for his fictional novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain was also a skilled chronicler of his own life and experiences. In his youth Twain traveled extensively throughout the untamed American West with his brother working his way from town to town in a variety of jobs including gold prospector reporter and lecturer. Roughing It is Twain's personal recollection of his wanderlust years. It is a wildly humorous adventure yarn that combines hard facts with a healthy dose of the author's unique perspective one that helped define the course of American literature.