Overview

Following on the heels of the first volume, The Life of Mark Twain: The Middle Years, 1871–1891, is the second of three volumes in this critically acclaimed autobiography. This volume chronicles events in Samuel Langhorne Clemens's life between his departure with his family from Buffalo for Elmira and Hartford in spring 1871 and his departure with his family from Hartford for Europe in mid-1891. This is the first multi-volume biography of Samuel Clemens to appear in over a century. In the succeeding years, Clemens biographers have either tailored their narratives to fit the parameters of a single volume or focused on a particular period or aspect of Clemens's life, because the whole of that epic life cannot be compressed into a single volume. In The Life of Mark Twain, Gary Scharnhorst has chosen to write a complete biography plotted from beginning to end, from a single point of view, on an expansive canvas. With dozens of Mark Twain biographies available, what is left unsaid? On average, a hundred Clemens letters and a couple of Clemens interviews surface every year. Scharnhorst has located documents relevant to Clemens's life in Missouri, along the Mississippi River, and in the West, including some which have been presumed lost. Over three volumes, Scharnhorst elucidates the life of arguably the greatest American writer and reveals the alchemy of his gifted imagination.

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Reviews

Given how many biographies have been written on Mark Twain, one might wonder why another one would be necessary. But Gary Scharnhorst is no ordinary biographer. His research is first-rate, discovering sources and information that contribute to a fuller picture of its subject. He pulls no punches, giving us an unvarnished portrait of one of the most complex figures in American cultural history. This comprehensive biography is a welcome addition to an already full shelf because it makes a number of them obsolete. --Lawrence Howe, author of Mark Twain and the Novel: The Double-Cross of Authority The second installment of Gary Scharnhorst's multi-volume biography of Mark Twain is arguably even more momentous than the first, as it takes up Twain's major phase, the period in which he produced much of his best-known work, including Roughing It, The Adventure of Tom Sawyer, A Tramp abroad, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and his masterpiece, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Readers familiar with the first volume will not be disappointed by the second one. --Joseph Csicsila, author of Canons by Consensus: Critical Trends and American Literature Anthologies

"""A masterful, detailed account of America's most famous literary wit.""--Publishers Weekly ""Gary Scharnhorst's biography is massive, meticulous, thorough, and monumental. When complete, his work will become the definitive biography of Mark Twain for this and for many subsequent generations."" --John Bird, Missouri Historical Review ""Given how many biographies have been written on Mark Twain, one might wonder why another one would be necessary. But Gary Scharnhorst is no ordinary biographer. His research is first-rate, discovering sources and information that contribute to a fuller picture of its subject. He pulls no punches, giving us an unvarnished portrait of one of the most complex figures in American cultural history. This comprehensive biography is a welcome addition to an already full shelf because it makes a number of them obsolete.""--Lawrence Howe, author of Mark Twain and the Novel: The Double-Cross of Authority ""The reduction of a variegated (reportedly one of Twain's favorite words) and complex life into a simple narrative is something that Gary Scharnhorst's expansive, thorough, and deeply engaging three-volume biography of Samuel Clemens works to avoid, and the result is remarkably successful.""--Western American Literature ""The second installment of Gary Scharnhorst's multi-volume biography of Mark Twain is arguably even more momentous than the first, as it takes up Twain's major phase, the period in which he produced much of his best-known work, including Roughing It, The Adventure of Tom Sawyer, A Tramp abroad, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and his masterpiece, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Readers familiar with the first volume will not be disappointed by the second one.""--Joseph Csicsila, author of Canons by Consensus: Critical Trends and American Literature Anthologies ""Weaving together mountains of facts, material not commonly quoted, and his own revisionist perspective, Scharnhorst provides a rich narrative that sets this biography apart from earlier biographies."" --D. E. Sloane, Choice"

Weaving together mountains of facts, material not commonly quoted, and his own revisionist perspective, Scharnhorst provides a rich narrative that sets this biography apart from earlier biographies. --D. E. Sloane, Choice The second installment of Gary Scharnhorst's multi-volume biography of Mark Twain is arguably even more momentous than the first, as it takes up Twain's major phase, the period in which he produced much of his best-known work, including Roughing It, The Adventure of Tom Sawyer, A Tramp abroad, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and his masterpiece, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Readers familiar with the first volume will not be disappointed by the second one. --Joseph Csicsila, author of Canons by Consensus: Critical Trends and American Literature Anthologies The reduction of a variegated (reportedly one of Twain's favorite words) and complex life into a simple narrative is something that Gary Scharnhorst's expansive, thorough, and deeply engaging three-volume biography of Samuel Clemens works to avoid, and the result is remarkably successful. --Western American Literature Given how many biographies have been written on Mark Twain, one might wonder why another one would be necessary. But Gary Scharnhorst is no ordinary biographer. His research is first-rate, discovering sources and information that contribute to a fuller picture of its subject. He pulls no punches, giving us an unvarnished portrait of one of the most complex figures in American cultural history. This comprehensive biography is a welcome addition to an already full shelf because it makes a number of them obsolete. --Lawrence Howe, author of Mark Twain and the Novel: The Double-Cross of Authority Gary Scharnhorst's biography is massive, meticulous, thorough, and monumental. When complete, his work will become the definitive biography of Mark Twain for this and for many subsequent generations. --John Bird, Missouri Historical Review A masterful, detailed account of America's most famous literary wit. --Publishers Weekly

The second installment of Gary Scharnhorst's multi-volume biography of Mark Twain is arguably even more momentous than the first, as it takes up Twain's major phase, the period in which he produced much of his best-known work, including Roughing It, The Adventure of Tom Sawyer, A Tramp abroad, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and his masterpiece, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Readers familiar with the first volume will not be disappointed by the second one. --Joseph Csicsila, author of Canons by Consensus: Critical Trends and American Literature Anthologies Given how many biographies have been written on Mark Twain, one might wonder why another one would be necessary. But Gary Scharnhorst is no ordinary biographer. His research is first-rate, discovering sources and information that contribute to a fuller picture of its subject. He pulls no punches, giving us an unvarnished portrait of one of the most complex figures in American cultural history. This comprehensive biography is a welcome addition to an already full shelf because it makes a number of them obsolete. --Lawrence Howe, author of Mark Twain and the Novel: The Double-Cross of Authority A masterful, detailed account of America's most famous literary wit. --Publishers Weekly Weaving together mountains of facts, material not commonly quoted, and his own revisionist perspective, Scharnhorst provides a rich narrative that sets this biography apart from earlier biographies. --D. E. Sloane, Choice Gary Scharnhorst's biography is massive, meticulous, thorough, and monumental. When complete, his work will become the definitive biography of Mark Twain for this and for many subsequent generations. -- John Bird, Missouri Historical Review

The second installment of Gary Scharnhorst's multi-volume biography of Mark Twain is arguably even more momentous than the first, as it takes up Twain's major phase, the period in which he produced much of his best-known work, including Roughing It, The Adventure of Tom Sawyer, A Tramp abroad, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and his masterpiece, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Readers familiar with the first volume will not be disappointed by the second one. --Joseph Csicsila, author of Canons by Consensus: Critical Trends and American Literature Anthologies Given how many biographies have been written on Mark Twain, one might wonder why another one would be necessary. But Gary Scharnhorst is no ordinary biographer. His research is first-rate, discovering sources and information that contribute to a fuller picture of its subject. He pulls no punches, giving us an unvarnished portrait of one of the most complex figures in American cultural history. This comprehensive biography is a welcome addition to an already full shelf because it makes a number of them obsolete. --Lawrence Howe, author of Mark Twain and the Novel: The Double-Cross of Authority

Author Information

Gary Scharnhorst is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at the University of New Mexico. He is the author or editor of fifty books, including Mark Twain on Potholes and Politics: Letters to the Editor. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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