Arts & Culture

Your Next Read Before the Election: “Cannibalism in the Cars” 

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24 congressmen walk into a bar. There’s a snowstorm and they can’t leave for seven days. Who do they eat first? 

Mark Twain’s 1868 short story, “Cannibalism in the Cars,” takes place in a train, not a bar, but there’s still cannibalism — don’t you worry. 

The story follows the so-called “Stranger’s Narrative”: the story of 24 “gentlemen” on a train bound for Chicago in December of 1853. Snow is falling and there is a pleasant atmosphere, but soon the train can no longer push forward.The men realize they have no food, only wood for fire to keep them warm. 

Days pass and among the sorrow, hunger lingers. On the seventh day, the gentlemen can no longer take the starvation.

Columns

WEISSMANN | The Five People You Meet on the Train

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When you travel abroad, people are going to talk to you on trains. It’s like you’re wearing a big shining badge that screams “I’m an American” (or maybe it’s the jeans/sneakers combo and the giant backpack, who knows). When Eurorail is your transportation of choice, you get to meet people of all nationalities. And because most of Europe is familiar with the English language, those people want to hear where you’re from and where you’re going. First, you meet two women from Brussels traveling through the Swiss Alps on a ski trip.