Mark Twain

This biography of over 1000 pages plus meticulous Notes and Bibliography, is another great achievement by Ron Chernow, who has produced a series of magnificent biographies. But monumental is the only way to describe not only this biography but also the man whose life it presents to its readers in great, but not overwhelming, detail. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was the product of a respectable though not wealthy family which early in his life settled in the riverboat town of Hannibal, Missouri. Clemens grew up to be an intelligent, adventurous, imaginative, and often bull headed individual who quickly made a name for himself as a writer and humorist. After following several careers he made an advantageous marriage into a wealthy family. His bride Livy was an intelligent, soft spoken, and calming influence on the often mercurial Clemens (who had adopted the pen name Mark Twain). Theirs was a devoted partnership filled with love and calling for eternal patience on Livy's part. They produced four children, three of whom lived into adulthood, and spent much time traveling, building houses, and above all finding ways to spend money. Twain was one of the superstars of nineteenth century literary America. He produced a series of classic novels and short stories, along with travel guides and polemics fulminating against a series of perceived injustices. He went from being wealthy to bankruptcy thanks to his foolhardy investments and enthusiasms, but eventually managed to rebuild much of his fortune. By the time of his death in 1910 he had become a national institution. This book is long and detailed, but thanks to Chernow's gift for fine writing and clear analysis it never once grows boring. I was actually sorry to reach the final pages because Twain had become such a fine friend and companion to me!

I had long anticipated the release of Ron Chernow’s new biography of Mark Twain. He is an outstanding biographer without rival, in my opinion. Mark Twain, the biography, tackled the life of one of the United States’ early iconic writers. He started his career as a satirist, but wrote a prodigious amount throughout his entire adult life, extending into genres far beyond his earlier works. He wrote books about travel, his boyhood home (Hannibal, Missouri), philosophy, a mystery, and even science fiction. He was much more than just an author who added Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer to the pantheon of literary immortals. His career and reputation was unrivaled in the US and around the world. He was the first American literary superstar celebrity, not just in the US but abroad. He spent 11 years of his life living internationally where he met some of the most important people of his time — authors, musicians, politicians, and kings. In the US, it seemed he knew nearly every president, and even future ones, like Woodrow Wilson who was friend who became president after Twain’s passing. Yet, Twain was a very complex man of baffling dualities. The public side of Twain, the beloved satirist who wrote about yesteryear. He made tremendous amounts of money, but he and his wife were profligate spenders, who ended up in bankruptcy. He was an author, yet he was a dreamer who fancied himself a master businessman, which he wasn’t. As such, he was an easy target for numerous get-rich-quick schemes that cost him enormous amounts of money and all went no where, but he never seemed to learn his lesson despite his losses. He faced a life of a lot of personal loss worth the death of his beloved wife and three of his children. His personal tribulations, gave him a very dark outlook on life, yet publicly he was known for his outstanding wit and was famous for his speaking tours making him a kind of comedian superstar of his day. But he was also a surprisingly progressive thinker of his day. His view of African Americans was one that evolved throughout his lifetime. He fought briefly for the south for only two weeks during the Civil War, but yet he held some lifelong racial prejudices as well, and ended up being a close friend to Ulysses Grant, US president and the military conqueror of the South. He encouraged one daughter to have her own musical career, and another one to write, but he also stifled the lives of his adult children, whose lives seemed to be in service of their parents, unhealthily so. I knew a bit about Twain, but this biography presents a very thorough view into his life — warts and all. Twain was a befuddling person, which Chernow captures well. Twain was very eccentric person and held some strange predilections, so I can’t say I found him especially likable, which is a reason this book was a little slower reading than I thought it would be. Technically, as well, this wasn’t my favorite book of Chernow’s. I felt it was a bit repetitive at times, and sometimes got too carried away with minutiae that didn’t further the biography but did extend the length of the book unnecessarily. Still, you will learn an enormous amount about Twain and his life’s work and views in this book. As a whole this was a satisfying biography which I rate a 5-.

Mark Twain is a genius. So is the guy who wrote this book. Also true for the guy that read this book.

BIG book, but extremely interesting and well-written

Excelente libro. En muy buen estado. Ojalá vinieran más protegido para evitar manchas o raspones.

Have read Ron Chernow books before and this doesn’t disappoint. Expertly researched it runs chronologically through Twains life and writing. Though a long book it is a very easy fascinating read.

Great book that captures Samuels life in minute details. Meant for avid readers only as it's over 1k pages. I forgot matter will not be able to write about myself with such fineness and details. Though I received book with torn cover still book deserves a perfect rating.