Letters from the Earth

Twain wrote these essays late in life during a period of personal tragedy and financial ruin, but his daughter, Clara Clemens, blocked their publication for decades because of their highly controversial and iconoclastic views on religion [1.2.2]. She finally consented to their release in 1962, believing that public attitudes had become more tolerant and wanting to counter Soviet claims that her father's writings were being suppressed in the United States.

The book is actually a posthumous miscellany compiled by editor Bernard DeVoto, rather than a single continuous narrative. While the opening section features the famous letters written by Satan, the rest of the volume consists of various unrelated satirical essays, bedtime stories, and unfinished sketches written by Twain at different points in his life.