Autobiographical Writings
Mark Twain - Author
ISBN 9780143106678 | 544 pages | 29 May 2012 | Penguin Classics | 5.07 x 7.79in | 18 - AND UP
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An intimate look at Mark Twain that only he himself could offer A must-have for all lovers of Mark Twain, this selection of his autobiographical writings opens a rare window onto the writer’s life, particularly his early years. Born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri, Samuel Langhorne Clemens first used the pseudonym Mark Twain while a journalist in Nevada in 1863. When his first major book, The Innocents Abroad, appeared six years later, he began what would become one of the most celebrated and influential careers in American letters. Autobiographical Writings will help readers know the author intimately and appreciate why, a century after his death, he remains so vital and appealing. Introduction by R. KENT RESMUSSEN Suggestions for Further Reading A Note on the Texts Chronology AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL DICTATIONS Chapters from My Autobiography YOUTHFUL MEMORIES An Unpleasant Adventure My First Literary Venture Cub Piloting Days Early Years in Florida, Missouri A Mississippi River Story My Boyhood's Home Jane Lampton Clemens The Space-Annihilating Power of Thought Hunting the Deceitful Turkey ESSAYS My Boyhood Dreams Is Shakespeare Dead? The Turning-Point of My Life Glossay “To [Clemens's] fascinating recollections Rasmussen contributes an informative Introduction that courageously takes up the issue of Samuel Clemens's veracity, a fuller-than-usual chronology of Clemens's life, an up-to-date bibliography of scholarship devoted to his autobiographical writings, and a surprisingly ample "Glossary" that identifies everyone and everything from Susan Crane to John Hay to the Monday Evening Club to the starboard side of a river vessel… a highly usable and deeply enjoyable compilation of some of Twain's very best prose.” —Mark Twain Forum “Rasmussen seems to have been born with the destiny of bringing order and light to Twain scholarship… So now he’s written yet another book that I would say ought to be near to hand for any scholar doing work on Sam Clemens, the biographical individual.” —Lawrence Berkove, University of Michigan-Dearborn |
