Mark Twain: An Illustrated Biography

by Geoffrey C. Ward, Dayton Duncan, Ken Burns Narrated by Bill Meisle

Overview

Ernest Hemingway called Huckleberry Finn “the best book we've ever had. There was nothing before. There's been nothing as good since.” Critical opinion of this book hasn't dimmed since Hemingway uttered these words; as author Russell Banks says in these pages, Twain “makes possible an American literature which would otherwise not have been possible.” He was the most famous American of his day, and remains in ours the most universally revered American writer. Here the master storytellers Geoffrey Ward, Ken Burns, and Dayton Duncan give us the first fully illustrated biography of Mark Twain, American literature's touchstone, its funniest and most inventive figure.

This book pulls together material from a variety of published and unpublished sources. It examines not merely his justly famous novels, stories, travelogues, and lectures, but also his diaries, letters, and 275 illustrations and photographs from throughout his life. The authors take us from Samuel Langhorne Clemens's boyhood in Hannibal, Missouri, to his time as a riverboat worker-when he adopted the sobriquet “Mark Twain”-to his varied careers as a newspaperman, printer, and author. They follow him from the home he built in Hartford, Connecticut, to his peripatetic travels across Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. We see Twain grieve over his favorite daughter's death, and we see him writing and noticing everything.

Twain believed that “The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.” This paradox fueled his hilarity and lay at the core of this irreverent yet profoundly serious author. With essays by Russell Banks, Jocelyn Chadwick, Ron Powers, and John Boyer, as well as an interview with actor and
frequent Twain portrayer Hal Holbrook, this book provides a full and rich portrayal of the first figure of American letters.

Editorial Reviews

bn.com

The Barnes & Noble Review
Geoffrey C. Ward, Dayton Duncan, and Ken Burns have written a touching and heartfelt look at the life and career of the man who is, arguably, the greatest writer in American history: Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. This is a glorious and beautiful illustrated book, drawing on Twain's works, diaries, and letters -- it's ideal as a companion to the four-hour PBS series on Twain.

What's most remarkable about Twain's life is the amount of personal loss he went through, and the degree to which he blamed himself for it. His brother Henry, a steamboat clerk, died in an explosion on the Mississippi in 1858; Twain felt responsible because he hadn't been there for his younger brother when he needed him. He and his beloved wife, Livy, lost a prematurely born son, Langdon, in 1872; again, Twain felt responsible, blaming himself for allowing the baby to catch cold. His daughter Susy died of an infection at the tender age of 23; Clemens blamed the death on the stress caused by the family's chronic bankruptcy. When Livy herself succumbed in 1904 (a loss that devastated Clemens, who adored the woman who so often inspired his writing), their daughter Clara suffered a nervous breakdown.

How did a man who has written some of the wittiest and most trenchant social commentary cope with so much intense misfortune? Perhaps it was his very "American-ness"; he clearly had that zest for adventure that sums up the spirit of the country. On the other hand, when one looks at the evolution of his writing over the years, there is a definite darkening in tone, a negativity that reflects Twain's personal misery. Either way, this illustrated look at the great humorist is a wonderful read. (Nicholas Sinisi)

Nicholas Sinisi is the Barnes&Noble.com Nonfiction Editor.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178847756
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	11/13/2001
Edition description:	Abridged

Read an Excerpt

Ernest Hemingway called Huckleberry Finn "the best book we've ever had. There was nothing before. There's been nothing as good since." Critical opinion of this book hasn't dimmed since Hemingway uttered these words; as author Russell Banks says in these pages, Twain "makes possible an American literature which would otherwise not have been possible." He was the most famous American of his day, and remains in ours the most universally revered American writer. Here the master storytellers Geoffrey Ward, Ken Burns, and Dayton Duncan give us the first fully illustrated biography of Mark Twain, American literature's touchstone, its funniest and most inventive figure.

This book pulls together material from a variety of published and unpublished sources. It examines not merely his justly famous novels, stories, travelogues, and lectures, but also his diaries, letters, and 275 illustrations and photographs from throughout his life. The authors take us from Samuel Langhorne Clemens's boyhood in Hannibal, Missouri, to his time as a riverboat worker-when he adopted the sobriquet "Mark Twain"-to his varied careers as a newspaperman, printer, and author. They follow him from the home he built in Hartford, Connecticut, to his peripatetic travels across Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. We see Twain grieve over his favorite daughter's death, and we see him writing and noticing everything.

Twain believed that "The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorry. There is no humor in heaven." This paradox fueled his hilarity and lay at the core of this irreverent yet profoundly serious author. With essays by Russell Banks, Jocelyn Chadwick, Ron Powers, and John Boyer, as well as an interview with actor and frequent Twain portrayer Hal Holbrook, this book provides a full and rich portrayal of the first figure of American letters.

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