'A work of bitter cynicism' is in the Goodreads description of this story. Yes, that. Exactly that.

I did enjoy it though. There was a finger pointing schadenfreude feel to it, particularly at the end. ( )

A wonderful short story; was one that I use to teach every year in my former carreer as English teacher. ( )

“The weakest of all weak things is a virtue which has not been tested in the fire.

Hadleyburg is famed for its reputation for honesty even teaching its children about it. However, when Hadleyburg offends a passing stranger he resolves to revenge himself on the town, rather than any individuals, by exposing its artificial virtue. He leaves a sack supposedly containing forty thousand dollars in gold with Mary and Edward Richards, asking them to find an unknown benefactor. This person had given him twenty dollars and advice. Whoever correctly repeats that advice can claim the money.

Two central themes to this tale are appearance versus reality and more importantly human vanity. The stranger deliberately sets out to expose the town’s lies. Hadleyburg prides itself on its honesty, but all its leading citizens are willing to lie for the gold. There is no real virtue in Hadleyburg, only show.

This book is more of an extended essay than a even novella really only running to roughly 60 pages and is reported to have been originally written on hotel stationary during a stopover. It is beautifully crafted and the language succinct that its depth of meaning far out weighs its number of pages. This is so a charming tale that left me if not laughing out loud at least with a permanent smile on my face as it cruelly exposed such basic human failings as self-interest and greed. It was a joy to read and I would thoroughly recommend reading it. ( )

Oof. Twain pulls no punches when he feels like it. A scornful laugh against greed and hypocrisy. ( )

Written on hotel stationary in Europe while he was near the end of his career, growing cynical, and suffering depression from the death of his daughter – and it shows. Not funny, and nothing profound here about the human condition (yes, yes, money corrupts). I love Twain, but skip this one. ( )