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Mark Twain
Mark Twain | Ron Chernow
4 posts | 6 to read
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow illuminates the full, fascinating, and complex life of the writer long celebrated as the father of American literature, Mark Twain Ron Chernow, the highly lauded biographer of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and Ulysses S. Grant, brings his considerable powers to bear on Americas first, and most influential, literary celebrity, Mark Twain. Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835, under Halleys Comet, the rambunctious Twain was an early teller of tall tales. He left his home in Missouri at an early age, piloted steamboats on the Mississippi, and arrived in the Nevada Territory during the silver-mining boom. Before long, he had accepted a job at the local newspaper, where he barged into vigorous discourse and debate, hoaxes and hijinks. After moving to San Francisco, he published stories that attracted national attention for their brashness and humor, writing under a pen name soon to be immortalized. Chernow draws a richly nuanced portrait of the man who shamelessly sought fame and fortune and crafted his celebrity persona with meticulous care. Twain eventually settled with his wife and three daughters in Hartford, where he wrote some of his most well-known works, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, earning him further acclaim. He threw himself into American politics, emerging as the nations most notable pundit. While his talents as a writer and speaker flourished, his madcap business ventures eventually forced him into bankruptcy; to economize, Twain and his family spent nine eventful years in exile in Europe. He suffered the death of his wife and two daughters, and the last stage of his life was marked by heartache, political crusades, and eccentric behavior that sometimes obscured darker forces at play. Drawing on Twains bountiful archives, including his fifty notebooks, thousands of letters, and hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, Chernow masterfully captures a man whose career reflected the countrys westward expansion, industrialization, and foreign wars. No other white author of his generation grappled so fully with the legacy of slavery after the Civil War or showed such keen interest in African American culture. Today, more than one hundred years after his death, Twains writing continues to be read, debated, and quoted. In this brilliant work of scholarship, a moving tribute to the writers talent and humanity, Chernow reveals the magnificent and often maddening life of one of the most original characters in American history.
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kspenmoll
Mark Twain | Ron Chernow
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What a fantastic evening! My family went to hear Ron Chernow being interviewed about the writing of his biography of Mark Twain at the Mark Twain House in Hartford.The sold out venue was a Congregational Church nearby.That picture of Mark Twain on a stick is a hand fan they gave out to the audience because like most old churches, it was not air conditioned.Very creative & community building I thought!
The book is 1030 pages plus appendices.

tpixie Amazing 🤩 2w
Ruthiella Neat! 2w
AnnCrystal 🆒📚💝. 2w
See All 6 Comments
LeahBergen How wonderful! 2w
Amiable I have my copy —I think it‘s going to be my #chunksterchallenge book for 2026! 2w
MaureenMc Fabulous! I‘m on the wait list for the audiobook - 45 hours! 🤪 2w
48 likes6 comments
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Amiable
Mark Twain | Ron Chernow
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So excited to arrive home from vacation to find this in the pile of bills and junk mail!

Ruthiella Nice! 👍 1mo
kspenmoll We are going to hear the author speak at Mark Twain House this June! 1mo
Amiable @kspenmoll Yay! That will be awesome! What‘s the date? I didn‘t see any announcements about it—I would have gotten tickets! 1mo
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kspenmoll Tickets may still be available. 1mo
kspenmoll Another virtual event. 1mo
Amiable @kspenmoll Thank you! 1mo
CoverToCoverGirl Stacking! Knew nothing about this until your post! 1mo
Amiable @CoverToCoverGirl It‘s another chunkster, too! 1mo
66 likes3 stack adds10 comments