White Town Drowsing: Journeys to Hannibal

by Ron Powers

The Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator returns to his hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, and examines the town he found and the town he remembered

Genres: Nonfiction, History

313 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1986

About the author

Ron Powers (born 1941) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, novelist, and non-fiction writer. His face include White Town Drowsing: Journeys to Hannibal, Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain, and Mark Twain: A Life. With James Bradley, he co-wrote the 2000 #1 New York Times Bestseller Flags of Our Fathers.

Powers won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1973 for his critical writing as TV-radio-columnist for Chicago Sun-Times about television during 1972. He was the first television critic to win the Pulitzer Prize.

In 1985, Powers won an Emmy Award for his work on CBS News Sunday Morning.

Powers was born in 1941 in Hannibal, Missouri — Mark Twain's hometown. Hannibal was influential in much of Powers' writing — as the subject of his book White Town Drowsing, as the location of the two true-life murders that are the subject of Tom and Huck Don't Live Here Anymore, and as the home of Mark Twain. Powers has said that his fascination with Twain — the subject of two of his books — began in childhood:

"When I was a little boy in Hannibal, he was a mystic figure to me. His pictures and books and images were all over (my friend) Dulany Winkler's house, and I spent a lot of time there. I just wanted to reach out and touch him. Eventually I was able to."

In addition to writing, Powers has taught for the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Salzburg Seminar in Salzburg, Austria, and at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.

Powers is married and has two sons. He currently resides in Castleton, Vermont.

Reviews

[Ira]

Mildly interesting study of Hannibal, Mo, a town that lifves in the shadow of its association with Mark Twain. This book has moments of beautiful writing, as Ron Powers, who grew up there, is a poetic kind of guy and writes with affection about the city. But it also becomes pedantic and caught up in the 1980s politics of this little place.

[Barney · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely personal memoir. Insanely well written but definitely for Twain geeks and Powers aficionados. Very much a YMMV book depending on your obsession with Twain and appreciation of Powers prose.

[Keith A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm only partway through this but already know I'd give 4 stars. As has already been stated, Powers writes very well. I was on a Mississippi river trip recently but unfortunately due to several circumstances the ship was unable to stop at Hannibal as originally planned. The ship's extensive library, however, had this book on the 'donate or take' shelf, so I thought it'd be interesting to at least read about Hannibal.

One thing that I found curious, in Powers' extensive list of acknowledgments, is that he mentions the book is "to Honoree - whose imprint is on every page". Some quick research reveals that this was his wife, Dr. Honoree Fleming - retired Dean at Vermont State University - who was tragically shot dead at 77 years of age while walking a path on a D&H rail trail. It happened just this past October and apparently remains unsolved. It's a most tragic chapter in his life for sure, even more so being that the day she was killed was also their wedding anniversary.

Getting back to the story, though, I find it most interesting how he describes the town of his youth compared to changes 25 years later. A level of disdain for how all things Mark Twain related altered the character of the town as he knew it while growing up clearly comes through. For anyone who is prone to a nostalgic look back at how things were in a simpler, less commercial earlier time, from what I've read so far I'd say that you probably can't go wrong picking up a copy of this. I look forward to continuing on to see what he has to say about the town preparing for the sesquicentennial of Mark Twain's birth.

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing itself was enjoyable at times but the entire thing felt like a 1-trick pony. After the umpteenth visit home to cover the umpteenth town or committee meeting, the book failed to hold my interest. Further, it reeked of character assassinations and childish grievances that felt low and ugly. His interest never felt like it was focused on the town as much as it was driven to “take down” its officials and name call. A real disappointment.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about Hannibal, Missouri, the town where both the author and Mark Twain grew up. White Town follows the author's many trips there in 1985 to cover the town's failed attempts to stage a huge celebration for Hannibal's sesquicentennial. A really good look at contemporary hucksterism and ineptitude of the sort that would really entertain Twain.