Mark Twain: A Life
by Ron Powers
Book Summary Information
Author: Ron PowersEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-05-23
ISBN: 0743249011
Number of pages: 736
Publisher: Free Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780743249010
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Book Reviews of Mark Twain: A Life
Book Review: Phenomenal
Summary: 5 Stars
The best biographies are those that exemplify the skills of their subject in the telling. Powers almost becomes Twain, using the same sort of irreverent wit and free-ranging spirit to bring his subject alive. Even before he was rich and famous, Sam Clemens travelled incesssantly ("I must move, move, MOVE!") drinking and gambling as he wrote his pieces for whatever newspaper would pay him, saying what he pleased (often without regard for the truth) and developing what was to be recognised as his quintessential American style. I did wonder whether all Powers says about Twain is true - does his wit and mimicry extend to making things up and publishing them as fact, just to make a good story and see what happens? Anyway, it's a rollicking story, about a country and a way of life as well as a talented and remarkable man. Twain lived to a ripe old age, and received every plaudit going by the end (having just as often been jailed or shot at in the early days). His proudest moment, apparently, was the honorary degree he was given by Oxford Univeristy when he came to England in 1903.
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