Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses
Introduction

[thumb\|Mark Twain about 1895](/wiki/File:Mark_Twain_by_Ernest_H_Mills%2C_c1895.jpg "Mark Twain by Ernest H Mills, c1895.jpg")

"**Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses**" is an essay by [Mark Twain](/wiki/Mark_Twain "Mark Twain"), written as a [satire](/wiki/Satire "Satire") of literary criticism and as a critique of the writings of the novelist [James Fenimore Cooper](/wiki/James_Fenimore_Cooper "James Fenimore Cooper"), that appeared in the July 1895 issue of *[North American Review](/wiki/North_American_Review "North American Review")*. It draws on examples from *[The Deerslayer](/wiki/The_Deerslayer "The Deerslayer")* and *[The Pathfinder](/wiki/The_Pathfinder%2C_or_The_Inland_Sea "The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea")* from Cooper's [Leatherstocking Tales](/wiki/Leatherstocking_Tales "Leatherstocking Tales").

The essay is characteristic of Twain's biting, derisive, and highly satirical style of literary criticism, a form he also used to deride such authors as [Oliver Goldsmith](/wiki/Oliver_Goldsmith "Oliver Goldsmith"), [George Eliot](/wiki/George_Eliot "George Eliot"), [Jane Austen](/wiki/Jane_Austen "Jane Austen"), and [Robert Louis Stevenson](/wiki/Robert_Louis_Stevenson "Robert Louis Stevenson").


How does Cooper's writing style contribute to its literary offenses?