The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today

The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner

This book gave birth to the term "gilded age" to cover the last part of the 19th century. It was co-written by two authors and thus has a few distinct threads. At this time, everyone is out to get rich by whatever means possible. Speculation is the name of the game. The government was more a way of dispensing pork than actual governing. Washington D.C. gets especially pillared in the book. Who would dare think anything could be achieved by merrit? One girl tries to go to Washington to help get the government to invest in a plot of land she has. She lobbies hard and even murders a senator. She is later acquitted based on insanity, and then allowed to live her life. Another thread is about a man trying to make a fortune on a coal mine. Everyone likes him, but they just can't find it. Finally they give up and he works without pay with a loyalist before finally striking it rich.  While the plot gets a bit confusing, the satire is heavy hitting. Greed and corruption seem to hidden around every corner.