So much needs to be known about Samuel Clemens. It is more than his fine books, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Innocents Abroad, Pudd 'n Head Wilson, The Prince and the Pauper, Roughing It, and many more. We need the printer, the publisher, the lecturer, the philosopher, the humorist, riverboat pilot, world traveler, critic, as well as the author. Our core book achieves that balance and goes beyond Samuel Clemens and Mark Twain by Kaplan. Mark Twain created an American literature that endured. The history of Clemens' time as well as his influence on people's thinking. Mark Twain has made the West and the World as places we should smile and appreciate. His lecturing must have been imposing at the podium, cracking stories and sharp comments to the throngs who heard him speak. No wonder Hal Holbrook wanted to re-enact parts of his life.
Our trip will occur as a literary and historical journey through the settling of the West, the advent of the Gilded Age (he coined the term), and the growing up of America (19th Century). Why did Twain eventually locate in Hartford, Connecticut for his later years? What was it like growing up in Hannibal, Missouri? How would you have liked to ride on a riverboat with your Pilot Twain? What was it like to write as a journalist in Nevada and look for the Comstock Lode around Carson City? Why did Twain go bankrupt when he was so popular? How could Twain have thought General Grant's autobiography would make a highly popular book? Why was Adventures of Huckleberry Finn even banned in some schools during Twain's lifetime? Why are his books not always appreciated by the "Woke" patrons? Why are some of his books banned by selected public schools? What bound up Clemens and America so closely? What did Mark Twain mean to America (courtesy, Prof. Stephen Railton)?
My strong interest in Twain goes back to grade school and beyond. My first black and white filml I saw was shown at a country town school auditorium, Huckleberry Finn. I was entranced with the characterizations. Then, I ended up reading every Classics Illustrated Comic on the Twain books. Go ahead a few years to high school and early college, and I found and devoured Kaplan's book on Twain. Over the years after college and teaching positions, I heard Hal Holbrook's rendition at Cal Tech or the Pasadena Auditorium, I believe. I still admit to paraphrasing one of Twain's famous phrases, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
Come and join us for a stimulating 14 weeks of the life of Mark Twain, the writings and influence of Twain, and the legacy he has left all Americans and the world. It is a journey worth considering. Ron Powers' book has been labeled by one critic: . . . "this is one of the best American literary biographies to appear in many years." The photos are beautifully reproduced in the Powers book. The figments of Twain's mind become alive (Weekly Standard). The author Powers even calls him America's Shakespeare.
