"The Mysterious Stranger," Twain's last major work of fiction, was not published until after his death. In order to appreciate critical reactions to "The Mysterious Stranger," it is important to understand the problems that have arisen regarding the manuscripts on which published versions of the story have been based. Upon his death, Twain left behind three different unpublished manuscripts of three different stories sharing a number of similarities. These manuscripts were entitled, "The Chronicle of Young Satan,""Schoolhouse Hill," and "No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger."

The first published version of a story entitled "The Mysterious Stranger" became available in 1916. However, during the 1960s, scholars came to the conclusion that this version of the story had been significantly tampered with by editors and was not true to Twain's intentions. The editors of this first version, which is now referred to as the "Paine-Duneka text," were Albert Bigelow Paine...