The Autobiography of Mark Twain: Including Chapters Now Published for the First Time - Softcover

Twain, Mark; Neider, Charles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060920254 ISBN 13: 9780060920258

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1990

Synopsis

"It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense." - Mark Twain Within your hands is a glimpse into the life, mind, soul, and "truth" of cherished American icon, Mark Twain. This uncensored autobiography is not only a legacy he left behind, but also a gift to all.

Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835 in Florida, Missouri. He grew up on the shores of the Mississippi River and took his pen name from the way Mississippi steamboat crews measured the river's depth (the cry "Mark twain!" meant the river was at least 12 feet deep and safe to travel).

Twain wrote prolifically, publishing novels, travelogues, newspaper articles, short stories, and political pamphlets. His best-known works are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885).

On the surface, these novels are gripping adventure stories of boys running free on the Mississippi. However, on a deeper level, these novels are also serious works of social criticism. Written while America was still recovering from the Civil War and adjusting to the abolition of slavery, Twain's two best-known Mississippi River adventure tales also measure the depth of America's new economic and social realities.

His most personal and insightful writing came when he created his, "Final (and Right) Plan"-a free-flowing biography of the thoughts and interests he had toward the end of his life as he spoke his "whole frank mind". Along with the plan, came the instruction that the enclosed autobiography writings not be published in book form until 100 years after his death.

Today, we honor the life and writings of Mark Twain by publishing his personal opus-to reacquaint ourselves with the wit, wisdom, and ideals of this legendary American icon.

About this title

Review:

ONE OF THE BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE CENTURY

-- THE MODERN LIBRARY

"A book filled with richnesses of humor and tragedy of disappointment and triumph, of sweetness and bitterness, and all in that unsurpassed American prose."-- "New York Herald Tribune Book Review""Magnificently alive."-"Library Journal

From the Back Cover:

Mark Twain was a figure larger than life: massive in talent, eruptive in temperament, unpredictable in his actions. He crafted stories of heroism, adventure, tragedy, and comedy that reflected the changing America of the time, and he tells his own story -- which includes sixteen pages of photos -- with the same flair he brought to his fiction. Writing this autobiography on his deathbed, Twain vowed to be "free and frank and unembarrassed" in the recounting of his life and his experiences.

Twain was more than a match for the expanding America of riverboats, gold rushes, and the vast westward movement, which provided the material for his novels and which served to inspire this beloved and uniquely American autobiography.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0060920254
• ISBN 13: 9780060920258
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 16