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Mark Twain grew up with America. Born in 1835, he reached adulthood as the country was expanding and threatening to splinter all at once. Along with his towering talent and personality, his timing and instinct for finding the action allowed him to play a major role in pushing the boundaries of American culture and mythology by creating a new approach to literature. "Breaching the ranks of New England literary culture was Clemens's most important achievement (short of his actual works), and a signal liberating event in the country's imaginative history," writes Ron Powers in this dazzling biography. Not only did he observe and chronicle this cultural shift, he participated in it, allowing him to report "from the yeasty perspective of the common man." While still Sam Clemens, he worked as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River and experienced the Wild West of the Nevada Territory as a miner, land prospector, and newspaperman. Later, while still the people's champion, he married into wealth and ran with the moneyed class of the Gilded Age--until his money ran out--and toured the world meeting with the famous and powerful at every stop. He was, as Powers puts it, "the nation's first rock star." But Twain was more than just a writer and Powers strives to cover all sides of this complex man. Employing an approach he calls "interpretive portraiture," he explores Twain's personal relations, temperament, religious skepticism, and psychology as closely as his written work. He discusses Twain's zeal for life along with his "chronic insecurity," and describes how this eternally optimistic and forward-looking man was prone to spells of nihilism and despair. Powers is a talented and lively writer clearly up to the task of covering this American legend, and his book vividly and thoroughly explains why Twain was "the representative figure of his nation and his century." --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
Mark Twain founded the American voice. His works are a living national treasury: taught, quoted, and reprinted more than those of any writer except Shakespeare. His awestruck contemporaries saw him as the representative figure of his times, and his influence has deeply flavored the 20th and 21st centuries. Yet somehow, beneath the vast flowing river of literature that he left behind -- books, sketches, speeches, not to mention the thousands of letters to his friends and his remarkable entries in private journals -- the man who became Mark Twain, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, has receded from view, leaving us with only faint and often trivialized remnants of his towering personality.
In Mark Twain, Ron Powers consummates years of thought and research with a tour de force on the life of our culture's founding father, re-creating the 19th century's vital landscapes and tumultuous events while restoring the human being at their center. He offers Sam Clemens as he lived, breathed, and wrote -- drawing heavily on the preserved viewpoints of the people who knew him best (especially the great William Dean Howells, his most admiring friend and literary co-conspirator), and on the annals of the American 19th century that he helped shape. Powers's prose rivals Mark Twain's own in its blend of humor, telling detail, and flights of lyricism. With the assistance of the Mark Twain Project at Berkeley, he has been able to draw on thousands of letters and notebook entries, many only recently discovered.
It is hard to imagine a life that encompassed more of its times. Sam Clemens left his frontier boyhood in Missouri for a life on the Mississippi during the golden age of steamboats. He skirted the western theater of the Civil War before taking off for an uproarious drunken newspaper career in the Nevada of the Wild West. As his fame as a humorist and lecturer spread around the country, he took the East Coast by storm, witnessing the extremes of wealth and poverty of New York City and the Gilded Age (which he named). He traveled to Europe on the first American pleasure cruise and revitalized the prim genre of travel writing. He wooed and won his lifelong devoted wife, yet quietly pined for the girl who was his first crush and whom he would re-encounter many decades later. He invented and invested in get-rich-quick schemes. He became the toast of Europe and a celebrity who toured the globe. His comments on everything he saw, many published here for the first time, are priceless.
The man who emerges in Powers's brilliant telling is both the magnetic, acerbic, and hilarious Mark Twain of myth and a devoted friend, husband, and father; a whirlwind of optimism and restless energy; and above all, a wide-eared and wide-eyed observer who absorbed every sight and sound, and poured it into his characters, plots, jokes, businesses, and life. Mark Twain left us our greatest voice. Samuel Clemens left us one of our most full and American of lives.
"No one understands the complicated American the world knows as Mark Twain better than Ron Powers. Finally, we have scholarship and writing worthy of the man. Powers's prose is insightful, elegant, and gets to the center of Twain's life, humor, tragedy, and outrage."
Ken Burns
Download Description
"Mark Twain founded the American voice. His works are a living national treasury: taught, quoted, and reprinted more than those of any writer except Shakespeare. His awestruck contemporaries saw him as the representative figure of his times, and his influence has deeply flavored the 20th and 21st centuries. Yet somehow, beneath the vast flowing river of literature that he left behind -- books, sketches, speeches, not to mention the thousands of letters to his friends and his remarkable entries in private journals -- the man who became Mark Twain, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, has receded from view, leaving us with only faint and often trivialized remnants of his towering personality. In Mark Twain, Ron Powers consummates years of thought and research with a tour de force on the life of our culture's founding father, re-creating the 19th century's vital landscapes and tumultuous events while restoring the human being at their center. He offers Sam Clemens as he lived, breathed, and wrote -- drawing heavily on the preserved viewpoints of the people who knew him best (especially the great William Dean Howells, his most admiring friend and literary co-conspirator), and on the annals of the American 19th century that he helped shape. Powers's prose rivals Mark Twain's own in its blend of humor, telling detail, and flights of lyricism. With the assistance of the Mark Twain Project at Berkeley, he has been able to draw on thousands of letters and notebook entries, many only recently discovered. It is hard to imagine a life that encompassed more of its times. Sam Clemens left his frontier boyhood in Missouri for a life on the Mississippi during the golden age of steamboats. He skirted the western theater of the Civil War before taking off for an uproarious drunken newspaper career in the Nevada of the Wild West. As his fame as a humorist and lecturer spread around the country, he took the East Coast by storm, witnessing the extremes of wealth and poverty of New York City and the Gilded Age (which he named). He traveled to Europe on the first American pleasure cruise and revitalized the prim genre of travel writing. He wooed and won his lifelong devoted wife, yet quietly pined for the girl who was his first crush and whom he would re-encounter many decades later. He invented and invested in get-rich-quick schemes. He became the toast of Europe and a celebrity who toured the globe. His comments on everything he saw, many published here for the first time, are priceless. The man who emerges in Powers's brilliant telling is both the magnetic, acerbic, and hilarious Mark Twain of myth and a devoted friend, husband, and father; a whirlwind of optimism and restless energy; and above all, a wide-eared and wide-eyed observer who absorbed every sight and sound, and poured it into his characters, plots, jokes, businesses, and life. Mark Twain left us our greatest voice. Samuel Clemens left us one of our most full and American of lives. "
Customer Reviews:
Absolutely marvelous book!.......2006-12-28
Powers gives us a terrific chronology, densely packed information, charming and insightful prose, plenty of great Twain quotes and anecdotes, empathy for the tragedies of Twain's life and twitting of his oddities when called for. I found it quite remarkable that the book could be so factual and also so readable. There's an excellent index, solid background references, and many laugh-out-loud moments. Adding to the pleasaure of this reading experience are some delightful and - new to me - photographs. Strongly recommend this outstanding biography.
A Full, Rich Life.......2006-10-29
This thorough and well-written biography of a gifted indivudual leaves one with the feeling of having known Mark Twain, Samuel Clemmens, personally. The book offers two additional values: One is getting a glinpse of what life was like during the late 19th century. The other is what it meant to experience the Civil War from a state so far removed from the action that the war seemed to be going on in another country.
Great account of a remarkable American life.......2006-10-08
An interesting biography of Mark Twain aka Samuel Clemens, a journalist and a writer.
Although he had no formal education, Mark Twain was arguably the best English language writer since Shakespeare, with his greatest contribution to the American literature being the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Mark Twain traveled around the world, and had a great sense of humanity
He was a patriot who loved his country and the 19th century. But he condemned his American society for its hypocrisy. He was anti-colonial and anti-imperialist. He condemned the US for the invasion of Cuba and the Philippines, and the annexation of its neighbor, Mexico.
3.5, Round Up to 4 Stars........2006-10-01
You don't need to be incredibly familiar with Mark Twain's novels to follow this biography. In an apparently un-Twain-like linear fashion, Powers discusses the sources of Sam Clemens' stories while describing the formative years of his life. He then references these early experiences in later chapters when discussing the motivation behind each of Twain's works. He goes into great detail about the writing process, how manuscripts can begin vigorously, be set aside for a decade, then finished when enough inspiration has accumulated or enough memories have congealed to round out the story.
I don't think I've ever read a biography of an author. But Sam Clemens' lead a hectic life outside of literature. Powers covers everything from Clemens' boyhood adventures to his myopic business ventures, from his glory days as a Mississippi steamboat pilot to his failure as a Nevadan silver miner. Once his personal life is fleshed out and his acquaintances are described, it's easier to see how the writing of Mark Twain became the copyrighted American voice of the late 19th century.
My only serious complaint about this biography is the vocabulary. How many times can you drop the word "absquatulated" in a book and not sound pompous?
Simply THE best Mark Twain biography.......2006-09-16
Mr. Powers leaves every other Mark Twain biographer in the dust. This work is not only beautifully detailed and researched; it is a constantly engaging 'page turner.' Beyond all that Mr. Power's own gift as a writer is extraordinary...his words literally leap from the page. One of the best reads I have had in a long time.
Book Description
Foreword by Anne Ficklen. Terrific of the best of Twain includes his masterpieces--The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court,--with his burlesque Autobiography and selections from Sketches. Illustrated in black and white.
Customer Reviews:
A Classic.......2007-06-10
I was never interested in reading when I was in school. I started reading after I graduated high school. Good thing too. Now, I can't stop reading. And I'm actually interested and understand better today. Mark Twain's stories may seem..... old. But still a VERY good read.
Great collection.......2004-04-25
What a great book to have when you want to have some of Twain's finest stories. This should be a must-have for any reader's library.
The adventures of tom sawyer.......2003-11-04
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Allison Snow
11-2-03
Language
Tom Sawyer was always getting into trouble. He'd do anything form pretending he was dead to tricking his little cousin with his pet tarantula. Overall Tom could be a great kid, but Tom just wanted to be himself. Mark Twain wrote this wonderful book. This book is exiting and will take readers to another world. I will tell you one of Tom's adventures to get a good look on Tom's personality. Tom was a troublemaker and loved it.
Tom could be a great kid that is, when he wanted to. I think that his middle name should be trouble. He is a very odd little boy ill tell you that. One night Tom ran away while bribing his little cousin not to scream for Aunt Petunia. Tom shoved a rag in his mouth and set his tarantula jar on his stomach. He snuck out and went towards the woods while picking up friends on the way there. While he was running he tripped over a log and fell in the creek. Tom started to drown. Huck came to the rescue as he pulled Tom out of the water and gave him CPR. Tom coughed up water and looked to se who saved him. Unfortunately Huck hid behind a tree. Tom vision started to clear up on the walk back home.
Once Tom snuck back trough his window he went down stair for breakfast. While sitting down at the table Tom swats a newspaper down on the table. "What's for breakfast," he said. Aunt Petunia pulls out the jar with the spider in it and smacks it down on his place mat. Tom knew she was mad. As normal, Tom was in trouble, again
Trickster of the Town.......2002-11-14
Tom's adventures were exciting because he does a lot of things he shouldn't do. For instance, he gets lost in a cave with his girlfriend Becky and risks his life for her. He tricks his Aunt Polly into forgiving him and so he ends up not getting the punishment he deserves. Tom witnesses a terrible murder with one of his best friends, Huckleberry Finn. I think this book is one of the most frightening, mysterious and exciting books I've ever read.
A Compellation of Four Great Classic Stories.......2001-11-10
The four stories combined here are, if not Mark Twain's best work, then certainly his most well known and celebrated. The first two, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" have been engrained into popular American culture, and there aren't too many people who haven't read of, or heard of, these characters. "The Prince and the Pauper", and "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" also have been celebrated, though not as widely as the first two, and certainly not immortalized like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is based on Twain's own childhood experiences living in Hannibal, MO., a small town along the Mississippi River. Much of What Twain wrote about centered around his own life; and in "Tom Sawyer" Twain uses real life experiences and people he was familiar with. Tom Sawyer is based on himself, and several of his freinds; Huck Finn is based on Tom Blankenship, son of Hannibal's town drunk; Becky Thatcher is based on Laura Hawkins, Twain's childhood sweetheart; Aunt Polly is based on Twain's mother; sid is based on his younger brother Henry; and Injun Joe is based on a man, half indian, who lived in Hannibal.
"Tom Sawyer" is Twain's way of reliving a time in his life he so enjoyed, and an era he was painfully aware was fastly disappearing. Interestingly enough, when "Tom Sawyer" was first published in 1874, it was something of a failure, and initially did not catch on with American readers. It's hard to believe that now, knowing of it's emense popularity; and the countless Tom Sawyer movies that have been made, although none really come close to matching the story itself.
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has been praised as much as it has been condemned. The story of a white boy escaping the vindictiveness of his father and the smothering of "civilization", who inadvertantly must also confront the brutality of slavery at the same time.
Twain originally began this story merely as another adventure, similar to "Tom sawyer". However, he soon realized it would not be written in the same innocent style. Indeed, the story begins that way; yet when Huck and Jim pass Cairo, IL., the city along the Mississippi River famous for being connected with the underground railroad, Twain puts down the manuscript for several years, and has thoughts of even burning it.
It took ten years, and many exasperating rewrites, and many looming, internal questions and struggles, but in 1886 "Huck Finn was finally published. It was not initially well received. Twain went on a tour to promote his book; that, and the calls to ban "Huck finn" helped to generate interest, and sales began to pick up. Over one hundred years later, "Huck Finn" still has its detractors; however, it has survived and become one of America's true classics, taught and studied in schools, and fiercely debated in auditoriums.
"The Prince and the Pauper" was one of Twain's personal favorites; his daughters Susy and Clara's as well, which they begged him to read over and over again. The girls loved it so much Twain converted it into a play, which his daughters, and a friend acted out in the Twain household in Hartford, CT. for the residents, quite successfully. What the reader did not know until later was that "The Prince and the Pauper" was a subtle satire of England and english custom, which Twain loved to criticize.
This story takes place in early 16th century England, and recounts, as alleged by the author, "a tale as it was told to me by one who had it of his father, who latter had it of his father ... and so on".
Tom Canty is the pauper, born on the same day as the prince, Edward Tudor. Quite coincidentally, they both look alike. Tom was born to very poor parents; his father and grandmother loathed him, and as he grew older used him to pickpocket and steal for them.
Years go by and Tom grows into a young, intellectual boy who loves learning and studying. Still, one thing lacks; he wishes he could be royalty. The Prince has also grown, and soon will be crowned King of England. A title he despises. He hates the way he is being treated, and wishes he could be a commoner. As fate would have it, the two eventually meet and switch places. Both are very happy at first, until Edward realizes just how badly commoners are treated, and how badly Tom's father treats him. Meanwhile, the king is on his deathbed, and Tom is a nervous wreck, knowing he must find the real prince before he is crowned the new king. Suddenly the need to switch back is crucial, but neither boy can find each other to make the switch.
A long succession of events follows, much of which is written in Twain's own humorous style. And although the scenes in this story are similar to those in "Tom Sawyer", and often reflect early nineteenth century America, Twain still captures the flavor, however bitterly so, of english life under the rule of the Tudor family.
"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" was written in an age when new mechanical inventions were sweeping the nation, and Twain used this new age in the story, combining it with his own fascination with the King Arthur legend.
The narrator, himself, is a gunsmith, and blacksmith, and very good at working with and creating mechanical wonders; it isn't until the end we learn his name.
An accident causes him to fall unconscious. When he awakes, he discovers he is no longer in Connecticut, but in sixth century England. He is taken prisoner and brought before King Arthur himself. Condemned to die, he uses his knowledge of mechanics to trick Arthur and the people into believing he is a magician. Merlin, jealous of the man and his power, sets out to disprove him. In the meanwhile, the yankee is busy at work by putting his knowledge of machines to good use, or so he attempts; though things do not go as well as hoped.
"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" is another one of Twain's satires against England, and english customs; perhaps more bitterly written than "Prince and the Pauper".
Book Description
While the entire world knows Mark Twain as the renowned author of many classic American novels, few people are aware that he was also a highly successful businessman. In fact, more than half of his life was consumed by moneymaking pursuits, which often resulted in writing projects being neglected—but at the same time, these adventures were the inspiration behind many of the characters found in his books.
In Ignorance, Confidence, and Filthy Rich Friends, Peter Krass captures a little-known side of this American icon and details the roller coaster ride of his business ventures in a dramatic, entertaining, and informative narrative style. From Twain's time as the founder of his own publishing house—where he made a small fortune publishing General Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs—to his foray into venture capitalism and investment in numerous start-up firms, to his focus on his own inventions, this engaging book reveals the Mark Twain that few of us know: the no-nonsense, successful American businessman.
Customer Reviews:
Informative, but with failed wit.......2007-08-08
The author, Peter Krass, does a comendable job in portraying the history of Clemens's (Twain's) business folies for the most part, but he confoundedly tries to include cliched bits of wit on the tail end of many of the historical vingnettes. All in all this failed wit can be ingnored and it is an overall fun and informative read. (3.5 stars)
Pursuit of Wealth.......2007-03-05
Who knew Twain pursued wealth with the zest of a robber baron. This book is highly entertaining and instructive as there is much business insight and Twain's adventures are notable. While not a full biography, I enjoyed the excerpts from Twain's writing - you get a good sense of him. The pace of the book is good. Business people and those interested in Twain will enjoy it.
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- The Hobo Philosopher
- Roughing IT
- Witty, Insightful, and Entertaining
- A Different Time
- Most amazing book ever...
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Roughing It (Enriched Classic Series)
Mark Twain
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ASIN: 0743436504 |
Amazon.com
There is no nicer surprise for a reader than to discover that an acknowledged classic really does deliver the goods. Mark Twain's Roughing It is just such a book. The adventure tale is a delight from start to finish and is just as engrossing today as it was 125 years ago when it first appeared.
Roughing It tells the true-ish escapades of Twain in the American West. Although he clearly "speaks with forked tongue," Roughing It is informative as well as humorous. From stagecoach travel to the etiquette of prospecting, the modern reader gains considerable insight into that much-fictionalized time and place. Do you know about sagebrush, for example?
Sage-brush is very fair fuel, but as a vegetable it is a distinguished failure. Nothing can abide the taste of it but the jackass and his illegitimate child, the mule. But their testimony to its nutritiousness is worth nothing, for they will eat pine knots, or anthracite coal, or brass filings, or lead pipe, or old bottles, or anything that comes handy, and then go off looking as grateful as if they had had oysters for dinner.
Roughing It is informally structured around the narrator's attempts to strike it rich. He meets a motley, colorful crew in the process; many mishaps occur, and it shouldn't surprise you that Twain does not emerge a man of means. But he withstands it all in such a relentless good humor that his misfortune inspires laughter. Roughing It is wonderful entertainment and reminds you how funny the world can be--even its grimmer districts--when you're traveling with the right writer.
Book Description
Though known throughout the world for his fictional novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain was also a skilled chronicler of his own life and experiences. In his youth, Twain traveled extensively throughout the untamed American West with his brother, working his way from town to town in a variety of jobs, including gold prospector, reporter, and lecturer. Roughing It is Twain's personal recollection of his wanderlust years. It is a wildly humorous adventure yarn that combines hard facts with a healthy dose of the author's unique perspective, one that helped define the course of American literature.
Pocket Books' Enriched Classics present the great works of world literature enriched for the contemporary reader. This edition of Roughing It has been prepared by Professor Henry B. Wonham of the University of Oregon. It includes his introduction, notes, selection of critical excerpts, and suggestions for further reading as well as a unique visual essay of period illustrations and photographs.
Download Description
Originally published over 100 years ago, Roughing It was Mark Twain's second major work after the success of his 1869 travel book, Innocents Abroad. This time Twain travels through the wild west of America. With relentless good humor, Twain tells of his misfortunes during the quest to strike it rich by prospecting in the silver mines. Wonderfully entertaining, Twain successfully finds humor in spite of his mishaps while also giving the reader insight into that time and place of American history. Marvelously illustrated with numerous pictures.
Customer Reviews:
The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-15
This is the first Mark Twain book that I ever read. It is about his "Going West Young man" around the time of the Civil War. If you like travel books this is a classic. America and Americans, people and human nature and Mark Twain's take on the whole bit. If you have never read any of Mark Twain's non-fiction this is a great place to start. I don't really know if America has produced and funnier, more cleaver humorist than this man. If we have I have yet to find him. This book will never die - not as long as there are humans around with a sense of humor.
Roughing IT.......2007-07-30
If you are into stories about the old west, Twain tells it like it was but with a great humorous twist. A great book, really enjoyed it. Wish I had found it years ago, but better late than never.
Witty, Insightful, and Entertaining.......2007-06-27
It appears as though Clemens was ahead of the times with this book. The relatively short chapters seem like they could entertain readers who know nothing other than Dan Brown. As anecdote spills in anecdote, readers can't help but keep reading this book. I was surprised by how many times I found myself laughing out loud either from witticisms or the situational irony throughout the book. Altogether, a great read, that has prompted me to buy Innocents Abroad.
A Different Time.......2007-06-27
This is a good read that describes life in a different time. Some of it is factual and some is stretched but it is all entertaining.
Most amazing book ever..........2006-09-26
Mark Twain has been my favorite author since I read Huckleberry Finn in sixth grade. I've tried extremely hard to read every single word he's written (besides, I assume, personal letters)...including, of course, the complete short stories (I love The Diaries of Adam and Eve, by the way)...but I digress.
Roughing It is one of my top three books of all time (the other two, in case anyone was wondering, are Les Miserables and Into Thin Air [didn't say it was from a literary standpoint, just my personal opinion]). This is mostly because of the remarkably sharp prose. I love that this stuff (or most of it) actually happened to him, that he doesn't mind putting himself down and doesn't even make a big deal out of it...and...of course...The Book of Mormon. Who in their right mind wouldn't immediately fall in love with Mr. Twain after reading his dissection of The Book of Mormon?
Other reviewers have mentioned the digressions that they feel take away from the overall book. The entire book, my friends, is a digression. That is the point of the book. Those years of his life had ABSOLUTELY NO POINT. He was digressing from his life. That's what makes it hilarious. He just jumps from place to place (the first part is all about his travels in a stagecoach to become the undersecretary, a position he desperately wanted, or at least sarcastically-desperately...and then when he finally gets to Carson he gets bored in about a chapter and leaves, and never goes back). I love how there's something quotably hilarious about every other paragraph, and the understatement of the humour just makes it more hilarious!
I've read this book three times in about four years, and I recommend it to about anyone interested in an extremely funny...diversion.
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Mark Twain and West Point
Philip W. Leon , and
Mark Twain
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Mark Twain visited West Point at least ten times, delighting the cadets with stories, jokes, and speeches. Fascinated with West Point, Mark Twain mingled with cadets in the barracks, visited classrooms, and observed cavalry and artillery drills and parades. He formed lasting friendships with many cadets, faculty, and Superintendents. Philip W. Leon discusses each visit and traces the influence of West Point on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and other writings. A special chapter explores Mark Twain's response to some incidents of cadet hazing. Presenting archival material such as diaries, memoirs, official records, contemporary newspaper accounts, and previously unpublished correspondence, Leon illuminates the close ties of America's favorite storyteller and its premier military academy.
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- "S-T-E-A-M-boat a-comin'!"
- Twain on the Mississippi
- Mark Twain's Finest Writing
- A compelling monologue of biography, geography and history
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Life on the Mississippi (Signet Classics)
Mark Twain
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
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Roughing It (Enriched Classic Series)
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A Tramp Abroad
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Old Glory : A Voyage Down the Mississippi
ASIN: 0451528174
Release Date: 2001-11-07 |
Book Description
A stirring account of America's vanished past...
The book that earned Mark Twain his first recognition as a serious writer...
Discover the magic of life on the Mississippi.
At once a romantic history of a mighty river, an autobiographical account of Mark Twain's early steamboat days, and a storehouse of humorous anecdotes and sketches, Life on the Mississippi is the raw material from which Twain wrote his finest novel-The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
"The Lincoln of our literature." (William Dean Howells)
Customer Reviews:
"S-T-E-A-M-boat a-comin'!" .......2007-04-11
In Life on the Mississippi the steamboat is depicted as the workhorse of Midwest expansion. Prior to the advent of the railroad efficient inland transportation was confined to waterways and the Mississippi river basin , with "about 1,250,000 square miles," was the "Body of the Nation." (Twain, preface) Mark Twain fulfills his boyhood dream of becoming a river boat pilot and, returning some twenty-one years later, writes of his youthful experiences and later observations
The steamboat was a technological phenomena. The vehicle that evolved to meet the unique demands of this particular environment was a special design of river boat. In his own inimical style Mark Twain captures both the excitement of the riverboat's arrival and describes its essential components:
"She is long and sharp and trim and pretty; she has two tall, fancy-topped chimneys, with a gilded device of some kind swung between them; a fanciful pilothouse, all glass and "gingerbread," perched on top of the "texas" deck behind them; the paddle-boxes are gorgeous with a picture or with gilded rays above the boat's name; the boiler deck; the hurricane deck, and the texas deck are fenced and ornamented with clean white railings; there is a flag gallantly flying from the jack-staff; the furnace doors are open and the fires glaring bravely; the upper decks are black with passengers; the captain stands by the big bell calm, imposing, the envy of all; great volumes of the blackest smoke are rolling and tumbling out of the chimneys...the crew are grouped on the forecastle; the broad stage is run far out over the port bow, and an envied deck hand stands picturesquely on the end of it with a coil of rope in his hand; the pent steam is screaming through the gauge cocks; the captain lifts his hand, a bell rings, the wheels stop; then turn, back, churning the water to foam, and the steamer is at rest." (27)
Within a period of ten minutes the boat has been offloaded, loaded and departed. It is an efficiency of system and design ideally suited to its unique purposes, but as the Civil War looms its days are numbered. By then the steamboat had already evolved to it most advanced state and the steam locomotive has become the dominant form of transportation
As a literary piece by a "brilliant travel writer and incomparable humorist" (Kaplan, in Twain, xvii) Life on the Mississippi earned its accolades, but, as a window into a period of time, one can extract an eyewitnesses truth. In Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain describes the latter period of the steamboat's heyday dramatically cut short. Wartime technology did not improve the riverboat other than to convert it into an instrument of war. What doomed the steamboat to oblivion was the advent of the steam locomotive and the railroads. The steamboat well served the purposes of river life in its time but was eclipsed by the railroad.
That the steamboat was functional is indisputable, but if form determines function, it was a perfect adaptation of a water craft in conformity with purpose and contemporary technology. Combined with light weight and flexible wood construction the steamboat evolved into a shallow draft, wide beamed, low freeboard hull propelled by stern or side paddle wheels. The overall size of a steamboat was a compromise between maneuverability and economy. Power plant, fuel, cargo and passengers were accommodated within a superstructure rising above the hull. Bulk items, machinery, deck hands and low fare passengers were located on the main deck; superior public and private accommodations at higher fares were on the upper decks. Here travelers could enjoy incomparable luxury.
High on top of all was the pilothouse. River pilots, by necessity of their position earned through their experience and knowledge of the river, had the best view. By status, they were the pinnacle of river hierarchy. Mark Twain, on his 1882 return to the river, quaintly asks of a fellow passenger he suspects of being a river pilot: "Have you ever traveled with a panorama." The passenger responds, "I have formerly served in that capacity. [Twain's] suspicion was confirmed." (315) Only higher than the pilothouse were the tall stacks made so for the purpose of disgorging noxious black smoke and dangerous smoldering ash to the wind.
All components contributed to functionality, but perhaps the "stage" or ramp which bridged the gap between the boat and shore, contributed most to its versatility. It enabled the boat to be hailed from landings along the shore without the aid of a dock. As an apprentice, Mark Twain is left alone on the bridge for the first time by his mentor. His initial proud serenity is broken by a sudden awareness that the boat is heading for imminent impact with a "bluff reef." His panicked reaction throws the ship into reverse, but he is saved by the return of the pilot who calmly restores order and chastises him. "When you have a hail, my boy, you ought to tap the big bell three times before you land, so the engineers can get ready." (53) The "bluff reef" was actually a wind reef (from the effect of wind on the surface) and they sailed uneventfully through it.
The romance of the steamboat era is tarnished by frequent tragedy. Mark Twain loses his brother Henry, a cabin boy on the Pennsylvania, who died when the ship's boilers explode in June 1858. The hazards of operating year round and during night and day, plus the varying river conditions contributed to mistakes of judgment and probably just bad luck too! The pilot may have been king, but he was still human and suffered from the human faults of vain glory, unrealistic confidence, ego, and infallibility.
When he returns to the river in 1882 after an absence of twenty-one years, Mark Twain notes the changes that have occurred on the river. There are very few ships left in operation. Passenger travel is limited in frequency and destinations. The romance he once knew is gone, but a new one is beginning, the romance of the rails.
Today we know that the railroad too would have its heyday and, in time, its romance would also wane. But has the romance of the steamboat and rail eras disappeared? Today you can take cruises on Mississippi riverboats and luxury train trips across the continent. The difference now is that trips are for novelty and not necessity. The romance only comes from the remembrance of a time past and not the needs of the present.
Twain on the Mississippi.......2005-12-02
This is the book that Mark Twain himself thought to be his greatest. It is basically a memoir in two parts of his life spent on the river with historical sketches, statistics, and other matters thrown in.
The first part of the book tells of Twain's early years as a riverboat pilot. He talks about being a cub pilot, about learning about the intricacies of the river and the difficulties of navigating it, and about his mentor Horace Bixby. Twain's love of the river and his pride in "mastering" it are made obvious in these chapters.
The second part recounts Twain's return to the river in 1882, mainly to "see it again" in preparation of writing this book. Starting in St. Louis, he first goes south through Baton Rouge to New Orleans. He spends a bit of time there and describes life as he sees it in the city (there's a funny chapter regarding the above-ground cemeteries and an argument about cremation). Then he heads north on the steamboat City of Baton Rouge, piloted by his old mentor Horace Bixby. He stops off in Hannibal for three days, just enough time to see how much the town and some old acquaintances have changed, and then continues all the way to St. Paul, Minnesota.
Twain's humor, as he recounts conversations with people, sights seen, reminiscences dredged up, and a myriad of other matters that fill the book, is always evident. It's one of the great books on the mighty river, and whether you are a lover of the works of Mark Twain or interested in the Mississippi River during the time period just before and after the Civil War, you will enjoy this book.
Mark Twain's Finest Writing.......2003-06-27
I read this recently after having kept a copy around for years; I now wish I had read it years ago. It is witty, observant, and a wonderful slice of American history; the
now-vanished steamboat culture comes alive like nowhere
else. However, the best part is the contrast between the author's confident early youthful years and the much later, postwar years of bittersweet reminiscence and regret for what has passed, never to return. A wonderful book - I simply cannot praise it highly enough.
A compelling monologue of biography, geography and history.......2002-03-08
Let me guess: your total exposure to Mark Twain came in high school, when you were forced to read about the antics of Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer, right? Well, now that you've reached adulthood, you should make time to read _Life on the Mississippi_. It's mandatory reading if you live in a state that borders the great river, anywhere from Minnesota down to Louisiana. It's mandatory reading if you have come to that point in life when you can suddenly appreciate American history and post-Civil War stories written by someone who lived through that time.
Writing in the first half of the 1870s, Twain retraces the steps of his youth: the watery highway he knew when he trained to be a riverboat pilot nearly 20 years earlier. He speaks of how life _was_ along the river, and what life _became_. It's almost a "you can't go home again" experience for him, while the reader gets the benefit of discovering both time periods.
I have two favorite parts that I share with others. Chapter IX includes a wonderful dissertation about how learning the navigational intricacies of the river caused Twain to lose the ability to see its natural beauty. And Chapter XLV includes an assessment of how the people of the North and the South reacted differently to the war experience. If I were a social studies teacher, I'd use that last passage in a unit on the reconstruction period. So put this title on your vacation reading list, and don't fret: the chapters are short and are many -- 60! -- but you can stop at any time, and the words go by fast. _Life on the Mississippi_ should make you forget all about any Twain trauma and report-writing you may have suffered as a teenager. [This reviewer was an Illinois resident when these comments were written.]
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- Great Insight Into The Hawaii of Yesteryear
- Entertaining early writing by Twain
- Mark Twain's Letters from Hawaii
- Brilliant writing that remains alive
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Mark Twain's Letters from Hawaii
Mark Twain
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ASIN: 0824802888 |
Book Description
"I went to Maui to stay a week and remained five. I had a jolly time. I would not have fooled away any of it writing letters under any consideration whatever." --Mark Twain
So Samuel Langhorne Clemens made his excuse for late copy to the Sacramento Union, the newspaper that was underwriting his 1866 trip. If the young reporter's excuse makes perfect sense to you, join the thousands of Island lovers who have delighted in Twain's efforts when he finally did put pen to paper.
Customer Reviews:
Great Insight Into The Hawaii of Yesteryear.......2007-01-10
This book is easy and interesting reading. Anyone who enjoys learning about historical backgrounds will be enthralled by this book. It provides great first person perspective of what Hawaii was like before being tainted by the outside world. I highly recommend it!
Entertaining early writing by Twain.......2001-09-20
Having just finished reading Twain's "Roughing It", and having received this book as a gift, I decided to read them back to back. This is a compilation of the correspondence Mark Twain was hired to write from Hawaii (then the Sandwich Islands) for the California newspaper the Sacramento Union. These letters were written before he had published his first book, so he was still young and inexperienced as a writer. Yet all the elements of classic Twain are in here--the humour, the keen observation, the ear for vernacular speech. It is informative to notice that he used much of the material from these letters--at times verbatim--to create the last few chapters of "Roughing It". I would almost recommend reading "Roughing It" instead of these letters because the writing is more polished and edited for more readability, were it not for the fact that the letters contain some very interesting material that does not appear in "Roughing It". Specifically, Twain does an excellent job covering the trade and commerce of the Islands, specifically the whaling and sugar industries (I am a sucker for 19th century whaling stories), and delivers an exclusive report on the fate of the clipper ship 'Hornet', a ship that completely burned while on the open sea, stranding 31 men in open boats near the Equator. One boat made it to Hawaii and Twain was able to get a report off to California, the first anyone there had heard of it. This report later bacame the source for his piece "Forty-Three Days in an Open Boat".
I would recommend this book to those interested in early Hawaiian, or even California, history and those who would enjoy some early Mark Twain. The subject matter jumps around a bit, as is the nature of this kind of compilation. The introduction by A. Grove Day is very informative and helpful for placing the readings in context. The reading is not always easy but usually entertaining.
Mark Twain's Letters from Hawaii.......2000-08-08
This book is an excellent and quick read. It presents a picture of Hawaii that, unfortunately, will never be seen again. If you love the islands and/or Mark Twain's writing style, you'll love this book.
Brilliant writing that remains alive.......2000-06-18
What is it about the Hawaiian Islands that is so profoundly affecting? Twain was the ultimate skeptic, yet the Islands won him over in a minute. This collection of newspaper columns tells us why, and it is story that remains relevant to Island visitors and lucky residents. Twain was as well travelled as anyone of his day, and had no trouble identifying Hawaii as not just a pleasant place, but a unique place on earth. He hoped to live out his days on the Islands, but never made it back. Modern travellers sometimes wonder about the attractions of the Islands versus other places with warm climates. No one has explained it better than Twain.
Book Description
An American legend rewrites a remarkably contemporary Adam and Eve. In tackling the first three chapters of Genesis, Twain creates a story of The First Couple who are psychologically familiar to even 21st Century Americans. He wrote the Diaries as a tribute to his own marriage, so they are also his most heartfelt and personal work. Between 1893 and 1906, he attempted six versions; only these satisfied him and were published in his lifetime.
This expanded edition is • beautifully illustrated • faithful to Twain's final rewrites • faithful to Twain's wish that the two tales be "bound together" • and includes passages published for the first time.
Customer Reviews:
interesting point of view. .......2007-05-10
unique and intriging. fun and fast to listen to. very creative.
Sweet.......2007-05-09
I came to this book by way of a banned books list (The Diary of Eve has been banned in some schools). I was hesitant to read it; high school didn't make me a fan of Twain but I can finally say that I have a favorite book by him. I'm glad I decided to go ahead and 'knock it off my list' because both these 'diaries' tell a sweet love story. This is what a romance novel should be!
P.S. My religious beliefs fall under "eclectic paganism"; you don't have to be Christian to enjoy this book.
Perfect Gift for Next Valentine's Day.......2007-03-29
We got this CD because we had seen THE APPLE TREE (which is based on THE DIARIES OF ADAM & EVE), and wanted to go back to the source. The source is beautiful, a love story like none other. And what a perspective on the Bible. Now we'll have to buy the book so we can put our own voices to the text.
Treasured.......2007-01-06
My spouse and I loved this book so much we chose it as the only reading in our wedding, and so I completely agree that it would make a great wedding or anniversary gift. It is perhaps the best thing Twain ever wrote, because it is everything: hilarious, tragic, cynical, tender, and hopeful. Apparently, Twain started this before his wife's death and came back to it again afterwards, which I think is why there is so much passion and reflection in the story. There are earlier versions that were published in serial format and are also worth reading.
In essence, this is the first and the last love story, as Eve says. And so it is also everyone's love story. The development of Adam and Eve's relationship is the main focus here, but I disagree that Twain's views about God are not here, too. Whereas Adam seems content to just follow orders, it's Eve's questioning of God and The Fall that adds such depth to the story. This piece really is about the best and worst not only of the human race, but of God as well, told in a way that makes you realize why Twain is probably the best writer this country will ever see. It's only a 45 minute read, but it's one that you'll treasure.
The Diaries of Adam & Eve: Translated by Mark Twain.......2005-10-10
Great buy....just as described....quick delivery!!!
Book Description
For what scandalous reason was the original publication of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn delayed? What were the names of Samuel Clemens pets? How are his attitudes towards politics and religion revealed in his work? Find the answers to these questions and many more in The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain, which encapsulates the most important scholarship on Twains life, his works, and his times. Organized in an A-Z format, the volume contains entries on all of his works, people and places related to his biography, and analyses of Twains takes on a variety of topics, from confidence games to slavery. It also features five essays by major Mark Twain scholars on important aspects of his life and work, and interspersed throughout are essays on selected Twain classics by such literary luminaries as Arthur Miller, Frederick Pohl, and Nat Hentoff. Featuring an extensive bibliography, a comprehensive index, a chronology of Twains works, and over forty illustrations, The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain is the most authoritative and complete reference work available and is perfect for student and fan alike.
Customer Reviews:
A treasure trove of articles about America's best writer.......2003-05-04
In my considered opinion, Mark Twain (1835-1910) is the greatest writer American has produced. Twain, whom William Dean Howells called "the Lincoln of our literature," gave America a distinctive literary voice. More than any other writer, he successfully freed American culture from Europe's long shadows. (Incidentally, the three greats of my literary pantheon are Nietzsche, Shakespeare, and Twain).
A veritable treasure trove of Twainiana, The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain is a compendium of 301 entries organized in an A-Z format (actually an A-W format), from "Adam and Eve" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" to "Women's Rights" and "Work Habits."
The volume features a "Thematic List of Entries" that organizes the entries according to three categories:
Works: novels, travel narratives, sketches and tales, essays, journalism, other writings, unfinished works, spurious works, characters, styles and genres, language, humor, and scholarship and criticism.
Life: Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain, family, friends and acquaintances, clubs, finances, professional associates, printing and publishing industry, work, places, tours, Clemen's reading, celebrity, and contemporaries.
Times: politics, philosophy, theology, religion, science and technology, education, arts, and social attitudes.
An entry titled "Critical Reception," written by David L. Smith, cites H. L. Mencken, who declares Twain "the noblest literary artist who ever set pen to paper on American soil, and not only the noblest artist, but also one of the most profound and sagacious philosophers. He dealt constantly and earnestly with the deepest problems of life and living, and to his consideration of them he brought a truly amazing instinct for the truth, an almost uncanny talent for ridding the essential thing of its deceptive husks of tradition, prejudice, flubdub and balderdash. No man, not even Neitzche [sic] "ever did greater execution against those puerilities of fancy which so many men mistake for religion, and over which they are so eager to dispute and break heads."
One of the delightful subcategories that rewards close study is "Humor," including amiable humor, burlesque, comic journalism, irony, off-color humor, parody, practical jokes, satire, and Southwestern humor.
For example, in the entry on "Satire," Twain speaks through the mouth of a fictional Satan in "Chronicle of Young Satan" to describe the aggressive nature of Juvenalian satire: "Your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon--laughter. Power, money, persuasion, supplication persecution--these can lift at a colossal humbug--push it a little, weaken it a little, century by century, but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand."
Like Nietzsche and Shakespeare, Twain was a consummate philosopher, as we discover by reading entries such as "Calvinism," "Determinism," "Naturalism," "Sentimentalism," "Realism," and "Utilitarianism."
In an entry on "The Age of Reason" (a provocative work by Thomas Paine), we learn that Twain's reading Paine's philosophical work was for him an intellectual watershed. We also discover how deeply Twain's world view was influenced by Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection (1859).
The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain is so rich in content that only a few hints can be made concerning its revelations. For example:
o Autobiography. Even though Twain was convinced that his Autobiography would be the most important work of his life, he published only a small fraction of it in his lifetime. No full edition of it has ever been published. In typescript, it fills three file-cabinet drawers in the Mark Twain Papers.
o Typewriter. Twain was fascinated with machines, and bought his first typewriter in 1874--only six years after they were patented and almost a decade before Remington began to mass-produce them. The first day he used it, Clemens typed a letter to William Dean Howells that read: "I DON'T KNOW WHETHER I AM OGING TO MAKE THIS TYPEWRITING MACHINE GO OR NTO." Eventually he got the hang of it and in 1882 he became one of the first authors to present a typewritten manuscript--Life on the Mississippi--as a copy text for typesetting.
o Censorship. Twain has two titles--The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer--on the American Library Association's list of the top fifty most banned books in America.
o Celebrity. Clemens was a major media celebrity, and managed to meet almost every famous person of his day, including Lewis Carroll, Matthew Arnold, Bram Stoker, most of Europe's nobility, Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Helen Keller, P. T. Barnum, Winston Churchill, Booker T. Washington, H. G. Wells, most American presidents, Bret Harte, George Bernard Shaw, Thomas Alva Edison, and Edward, Prince of Wales. As he exclaimed to his beloved daughter Susy (whose untimely death was one of the great tragedies of Twain's life), "Whom haven't I met?"
o Trademark. Twain was the first writer to incorporate himself and trademark his name.
o Race Relations. For most of his life, racial discrimination in America was legally sanctioned, and for all of his life it was socially acceptable. By the 1860s Twain began to shed his own racist beliefs, particularly concerning Africans and Chinese. However, he held some bigoted opinions about the Irish and never overcame a racist outlook on Native Americans.
This volume features lengthy essays by major Mark Twain scholars, such as "The Dream of Domesticity," by Susan K. Harris; "Mark Twain's Reputation," by Louis J. Budd; and "Technology," by Bruce Michelson. It also includes a 47-page bibliography; a chronology of Twain's works; dozens of photographs and illustrations; a concluding article on "Researching Mark Twain" (including a section titled "e-Twain"--electronic resources and websites); numerous illustrations from Twain's first editions; a chronology of Twain's life, work, and times; and an extensive index.
The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain compares favorably with The Mark Twain Encyclopedia (1993) and Mark Twain A to Z (1995). Fans of "the man from Hannibal" will give it a prized place in their library.
Mark Camfield is Professor of English at the University of the Pacific, and author of Sentimental Twain: Samuel Clemens in the Maze of Moral Philosophy and Necessary Madness: The Humor of Domesticity in Nineteenth-Century American Literature.
Roy E. Perry of Nolensville is an amateur philosopher and Civil War buff. He is an advertising copywriter at a Nashville publishing house.
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Following the Equator and Anti-imperialist Essays (1897,1901,1905) (Oxford Mark Twain)
Mark Twain , and
Fred Kaplan
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Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Dover Thrift Editions)
ASIN: 0195101510 |
Book Description
In 1895, bankrupted by his investments in the doomed Paige typesetter and by the collapse of his publishing house, sixty-year-old Mark Twain was forced to embark on a world lecture tour to raise money to pay his growing debts. Following the Equator, Twain's final travel book, was the result.
His readers circumnavigate the globe with one of the world's most entertaining travel companions--to Honolulu and the Fiji Islands, Sydney and Melbourne, Tasmania, Ceylon, Bombay, Calcutta, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Twain blends whimsical anecdote, sharp-eyed commentary, and serious social
critique, assailing the contempt of whites for native traditions, and noting the striking similarity between slavery and the colonial experience. In "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" and "King Leopold's Soliloquy," also included in this volume, Twain strips the imperialist powers naked and bears
eloquent witness to the unspeakable crimes they perpetrate in the name of what he calls the "Blessings-of-Civilization Trust."
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- Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace
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- New York, New York: Fifty Years of Art, Architecture, Photography, Film, and Video
- Object of His Desire (Indigo: Sensuous Love Stories)
- Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett/2007 International Edition/in 2 volumes
- Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company
- Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company
- Oxford Bible Atlas
Books Index
Books Home
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- Complete Conditioning For Tennis
Mark Twain's Helpful Hints for Good Living: A Handbook for the Damned Human Race
Team of Rivals
The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain: A Book of Quotations (Dover Thrift Editions)
Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times
Melville: His World and Work
