The American Claimant by Mark Twain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Free at Project Gutenberg

This is one of Twain’s lesser-known books, but it’s not for lack of Twain’s signature humor and cleverness. Like “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” it shines a light (often satirically) on what it means to be American via a fish-out-of-water storyline. In this case, there is no “magic teleportation” of a character to an alternate world. Here, a progressive British aristocrat ends up in working class America, while a flighty American who dabbles in get-rich-quick schemes — Mulberry Sellers (the titular “American Claimant”) — ends up playing at being an aristocrat, but in America.

As the book highlights the difference between class-conscious Britain and egalitarian America, it shows that deep down America isn’t always as egalitarian as it projects to be. This insight is largely conveyed through the experience of “Howard Tracy” (the pseudonym of Viscount Berkeley, the progressive aristocrat who gives up his title to assume an identity in blue-collar America, only to find that it is not the utopia of equality he’d come to believe it to be.)

If you enjoy humorous stories, I’d highly recommend this book. It may take a moment to get into the story, but — ultimately — it’s an enjoyable read.

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