Today's Featured Book:
Mark Twain
by Ron Chernow
Genre: Biography
Published: May 13, 2025
Page Count: 1196 pages
Summary:
In this richly nuanced portrait of Mark Twain, acclaimed biographer Ron Chernow brings his considerable powers to bear on a man who shamelessly sought fame and fortune, and crafted his persona with meticulous care. After establishing himself as a journalist, satirist, and lecturer, he eventually settled in Hartford with his wife and three daughters, where he went on to write The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He threw himself into the hurly-burly of American culture, and emerged as the nation’s most notable political pundit. At the same time, his madcap business ventures eventually bankrupted him; to economize, Twain and his family spent nine eventful years in exile in Europe. He suffered the death of his wife and two daughters, and the last stage of his life was marked by heartache, political crusades, and eccentric behavior that sometimes obscured darker forces at play.
From the time he was a small boy in Hannibal, Missouri, the Mississippi River had signified freedom for Samuel Langhorne Clemens (later known as Mark Twain), a place where he could toss aside worldly cares, indulge in high spirits, and find sanctuary from society’s restraints.
Chernow, Ron. Mark Twain, p. xiii. Kindle Edition.
THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky.
In the immediate aftermath of his brother’s death, Sam, exhausted from his harrowing vigil, slept for hours. Then he rose and went to view Henry’s remains. Touched by his youthful beauty, some Memphis ladies had chipped in for a metal casket for Henry instead of the standard wooden model. Sam was startled to enter the room and see Henry just as he had pictured him in the dream, minus one detail: there were no white flowers on his chest.
Chernow, Ron. Mark Twain, p. 56. Kindle Edition.
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It took biographer Ron Chernow 1196 pages to tell the story of the man who was Mark Twain. It seems unlikely that I can sum up this book in a couple of paragraphs.
Still, I shall try.
Mark Twain was an enigma. He loved deeply. He hated deeply. And often these were the same people or places or objects. Over and over, Twain found himself initially swooning over a man or a city or a new idea only to suddenly find that the man or city or new idea appalled him.
Mark Twain was able to see deeply and freshly, and it is his aphorisms I enjoyed reading the most, full of the wisdom, the paradoxes, and above all, the humor, he found in life.
I also enjoyed reading about Mark Twain's moral shifts, from that of a young man who accepted Black enslavement as a given to a man who supported Blacks in their quest to become full equals with white folk in America; from a man who rah-rahed the imperialists to a man who railed against them; from a man who stood squarely in the middle of the beliefs of the American South to a man who could speak with the greatest minds in the world.
Would I recommend this book? Whew. It's long, and detailed, and it covers everything about Twain. Do you want to know everything about this man? Then, I say, yes. He's definitely a fascinating character, and if he had his moments of amazing brilliance, he also had his moments where he let all of us down. Still, I'm happy I got to know him in these pages.
The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.
August 15th - 21st - Do you visit and share books in Little Free Libraries in your area? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Review)
I do. I have one, #2924.
I installed five others in my town using money from a grant my school district gave me.
Here are a few blog posts about the joy I get from Little Free Libraries:
Bookish Brags: Little Free Libraries
My Little Free Library: Trick-or-Book
Visitor to My Little Free Library
Riding Her Bike to the Little Library
Little Free Library #2924 is Up and Running
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