Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2: The Complete and Authoritative Edition (Mark Twain Papers) Hardcover Author: Visit Amazon's Mark Twain Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0520272781 | Format: PDF, EPUB
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Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2
Samuel L. Clemens. Redding, Connecticut, 1908. Photograph taken by Isabel Lyon, Clemens’s secretary. Courtesy of the Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
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Samuel Clemens in Ontereora, NY. 1900. Courtesy of the Mark Twain Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
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Samuel L. Clemens, 1851 or 1852. Reproduced from a print in the Mark Twain Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, which appears on the jacket of The Autobiography of Mark Twain: Volume 2 published by University of California Press (2013).
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Samuel L. Clemens with kitten. Photography by Underwood and Underwood, 1907, Tuxedo Park, New York. Courtesy of the Mark Twain Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
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Extract of a letter from Samuel L. Clemens to his wife Olivia, 1874, London, England. Courtesy of the Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
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Transcription of a letter from Samuel L. Clemens to his wife Olivia, 1874, London, England. Courtesy of the Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* In the second volume of this meticulously edited autobiography, readers hear Twain contrast his work with autobiographies giving readers “an open window” showcasing the famous people in the authors’ lives. His autobiography, Twain explains, serves not as a window but as “a mirror, and I am looking at myself in it all the time.” To be sure, this volume—comprising material Twain dictated between April 1906 and February 1907, two years before ending his dictation—does afford glimpses of notable contemporaries, including Bret Harte, James Russell Lowell, and Helen Keller. But the narrative repeatedly shows the novelist scrutinizing himself: watching, for instance, how he scowls at the depredations of Jay Gould, how he smiles at the antics of a pet cat, how he grieves at the anniversary of his wife’s death. The episodes of self-examination spin out—as Twain acknowledges—like an “excursion . . . that sidetracks itself” unpredictably. But Griffin and Smith’s careful annotations clarify the chronology running through Twain’s reflections about the face looking back at him from his mirror—now set in the perfect deadpan of a master humorist, now contorted with the acute anguish of a distressed soul. A treasure deserving shelf space next to Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. --Bryce Christensen
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Books with free ebook downloads available Download Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2: The Complete and Authoritative Edition (Mark Twain Papers) Hardcover
- Series: Mark Twain Papers (Book 11)
- Hardcover: 776 pages
- Publisher: University of California Press; 1st edition (October 5, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0520272781
- ISBN-13: 978-0520272781
- Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.5 x 2.4 inches
- Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
It was about 40 years ago that I, as a young man, fell in love with the writings of Mark Twain. My interest was less in his fiction (not to denigrate it) than in his non-fiction works: the travel books, the humanist essays, the political and religious commentary. Early on, I learned that Clemens had some autobiographical writings that he insisted not be published until 100 years after his death because he found it was the only way he could be completely honest about his feelings and opinions. I felt sorry for the Twain enthusiasts who would not live long enough to experience those writings and I wondered if I myself would make it.
Well, if you are reading these words, we both survived long enough to now enjoy the first two volumes of Clemens' unexpurgated autobiography and for me it was definitely worth the wait. Clemens' peculiar method of composing this book was not to arrange it chronologically or by subject matter, but to just dictate whatever anecdotes and memories that came to mind. It might be a newspaper clipping mentioning an old acquaintance that inspired him to talk about that person. The anniversary of his beloved wife's death quite naturally brought him to that subject. Though some question this unusual biographical form, I find it delightful because it reads as though you are visiting Clemens and listening to whatever he feels like talking about that day--jumping back and forth in time, going on tangents, etc. Some of his recollections will be familiar to those who have read the heavily edited autobiographies previously published, but here you get the authentic words of this American treasure.
This is a very thick book, over 700 pages, but only about 450 of those pages are Clemens' autobiographical dictations.
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