Mark Twain was a remarkable and distinctly American writer who was the master of humorous satire.  Twain enjoyed taking direct aim at the vanities and hypocrisies of mankind in his works. He often encouraged people to read “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg” as a satirical replay of the Garden of Eden story:  just like Adam and Eve, the people of Hadleyburg made it their goal to be pure and incorruptible — and the results were just as disastrous.