Life on the Mississippi is intrinsically American. It addresses American themes with American colloquial speech bathed in the single literary device that American’s can claim all for themselves—humor. Of course, Twain made his name writing satirical anecdotes, but Life on the Mississippi contains an unadulterated humor that one can’t find in some of his other works. In part, this is a result of the wonderful vernacular spoken by Southerners working or living near the Mississippi; in part, it’s a result of Twain’s perceptiveness to recreate it.