Dead for a Century, Twain Says What He Meant

[groovedaddy]

Wry and cranky, droll and cantankerous — that’s the Mark Twain we think we know, thanks to reading “Huck Finn” and “Tom Sawyer” in high school. But in his unexpurgated autobiography, whose first volume is about to be published a century after his death, a very different Twain emerges, more pointedly political and willing to play the role of the angry prophet.

Whether anguishing over American military interventions abroad or delivering jabs at Wall Street tycoons, this Twain is strikingly contemporary. Though the autobiography also contains its share of homespun tales, some of its observations about American life are so acerbic — at one point Twain refers to American soldiers as “uniformed assassins” — that his heirs and editors, as well as the writer himself, feared they would damage his reputation if not withheld.

“From the first, second, third and fourth editions all sound and sane expressions of opinion must be left out,” Twain instructed them in 1906. “There may be a market for that kind of wares a century from now. There is no hurry. Wait and see.”

Twain’s decree will be put to the test when the University of California Press publishes the first of three volumes of the 500,000-word “Autobiography of Mark Twain” in November. Twain dictated most of it to a stenographer in the four years before his death at 74 on April 21, 1910. He argued that speaking his recollections and opinions, rather than writing them down, allowed him to adopt a more natural, colloquial and frank tone, and Twain scholars who have seen the manuscript agree.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/books/10twain.html?th&emc=th

[Richardo]

1. I cannot wait.

:bounce:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. me too -

:bounce:

[roguevalley]

6. that is one cute puppy

[msongs]

3. just read his fictionalized bio of Joan of Arc - a good read and supposedly taken from

actual docs from the historical time, at least in part.

[femrap]

4. k and r

This oughta be good. I've read that he became angry/cynical because he cared too much.

Can't wait.

[Cherchez la Femme]

5. In the interim read his Letters From the Earth

I read it once a year. It keeps me sane

or at least from throwing my computer


P.S. LFtE was another posthumous Twain title, it was too advanced to possibly be printed in his day

[Sequoia]

7. I've been waiting for this one. Better get it on hold at the library.

Thanks.