A couple years ago I picked up The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain (http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Short-Stories-Bantam-Classics...), and since then I've recommended it to people at every opportunity.

Twain's a master of a lot of things in writing, obviously, but one of my favorite things he does well is the character of "pompous, erudite jerk who doesn't realize he's actually a moron". (Stephen Colbert is a good modern example of such a character.)