Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain: A Biography

Wordy in places, but still the best, most comprehensive biography of Samuel Clemens.

It's no wonder this book won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. This is a serious, entertaining and informative treatment of one of the greatest American writers, and, in terms of his life and attitude, one of the best representations of 19th century America. In detail that becomes adornment to its subject, the author proceeds to map out the course of Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, as he progresses as a writer and as a person. Great insights are revealed of his social behavior and, inasmuch as possible and believable, his thoughts. This is a great book; a must for any serious reader.

Kaplan's National Book Award and Pulitzer winner starts with Samuel Clemens' arrival in the East already quite famous due to the popularity of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Almost immediately Clemens sets off to earn his living as a humorous lecturer. Kaplan shows us the many techniques he used such as the extended pause and how carefully he orchestrated his performances. Clemens' first literary success was INNOCENTS ABROAD about his trip accompanying a group of pilgrims to the Holy Land. It was always one of his most successful books. It was also published by subscription, which means that it was sold pretty much door-to-door. For me, one of the most entertaining parts of the book was Clemens' courtship of coal heiress Livy Langdon, whose brother, Charlie, had been one of the pilgrims on the INNOCENTS ABROAD trip. She rejected him, telling him she could never love him. He convinced her theirs could be a brother/sister relationship. Then he fell out of his carriage and she had to nurse him back to health. Much of the book details Clemens' obsession with James W. Paige's typesetting machine, which eventually bankrupted him. According to Kaplan, Clemens always led a duel existence (hence the title), with Mark Twain, the famous writer and social critic, and Samuel Clemens, the incompetent entrepreneur, always at loggerheads. Kaplan is almost offhandish when it comes to the early deaths of Clemens' daughters Susy and Jean. Clemens never recovered from Susy's death and Jean's preceded his own by just a few months. His wife Livy had been an invalid several years before her death, partly due to heart problems and partly because of nervous prostration brought on by her relationships with Clemens, but they were married for thirty-four years. The pictures leave a bit to be desired. We never get a good look at Livy as an adult and Jean and Clara are not shown at all, somewhat surprising since Ken Burns found several for his PBS documentary.

This scholarly and readable life of Twain begins with his thirties and carries the master humorist through the glorious successes and bitter tragedies that would haunt him. Well written and full of insightful analysis into his real character this book brings to life a persoanlity so large that it took a new era (Gilded Age) and two centuries to contain it! For his boyhood try Deep Waters- an equally good review of his wit and life.