Description:
In this latest biography of the writer Samuel Clemens, Inventing Mark Twain, Andrew Hoffman plumbs unique territory: the relationship between Clemens and his nom de plume and alter ego, Mark Twain. Twain was, in his writing and in his public appearances, affable, witty, satirical, and good-humored. Samuel Clemens, on the other hand, was moody, insecure, frequently depressed, and often riddled with anxiety. Although both personas belonged to one man, it became increasingly difficult for Clemens to assume his Twain character. Hoffman's engrossing exploration of Clemens's psyche reveals why. Inventing Mark Twain describes a childhood shadowed by Clemens's father's business failures and the deaths of that father and two siblings before young Samuel reached the age of 12. As an adult, the writer was dogged by financial and personal problems--investments in failed ventures, the deaths of three children, and the loss of his beloved wife, Livy. In view of all these tragedies, it's a wonder Clemens could write as Mark Twain, let alone assume that persona. Hoffman carefully considers all these issues and comes up with the portrait of a complicated man--one who could vote for a pro-slavery presidential candidate in 1860, then create a deeply affecting friendship between Jim and Huck--the escaped slave and the young white boy who ride the river together in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
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