Mark Twain's Notebooks: Journals, Letters, Observations, Wit, Wisdom, and Doodles

by Carlo De Vito (Editor)

The original and insightful collection that combines Mark Twain's journal writings with his rarely seen sketches and doodles. Fascinating and often hilarious, this is a complete record of the thoughts, ideas, and observations of the father of American literature. A national treasure and a cultural and literary icon, Mark Twain was called "the father of American literature" by William Faulkner. His beloved works include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and 26 other books. His inimitable prose seamlessly weaves together humor, insight, vivid details, and memorable characters. Along with these published works, Twain, who was also a journalist, produced approximately 40 to 50 pocket notebooks and wrote countless letters, essays, travelogues, and lectures in his lifetime.Mark Twain's Notebooks is the first collection to gather these writings and combine them with dozens of Twain's rarely seen sketches, doodles, and diagrams, as well as facsimiles of his original journal pages, letters, and essays. The result is page after beautifully designed page of some of the best, yet little-known, writings of Mark Twain. Organized by topics such as science, literature, health, family life, and food, the collection also includes intimate letters that describe the home he built in Hartford, Connecticut; his travels across Europe, the Middle East, and the United States; and his agony over the death of his favorite daughter. The writing and art is selected by book and publishing veteran Carlo De Vito, who provides fascinating commentary and insights into the material throughout the book.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Writing, Humor

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 5, 2015

Reviews

[Lisa Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. There is a lot of material in it. I laughed my way through. If a person wants to learn more about Mark Twain this is the book for you.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection contains a good dose of Twain's humor but also offers insights into experiences and relationships not addressed in well-known works. There are ample illustrations, ranging from photographs to representations of artifacts. Much of the content consists of short bits that make for quick but enjoyable reading. I was, however, surprised by the number of typographical errors in the text of the kind that could easily be caught by a careful proofreader. Twain fans would definitely enjoy De Vito's book.

[Renee Sottong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely collection, but it's not exclusively from notebooks. Much material comes from books and previously published letters. Still, it's beautifully bound and illustrated, if not-so-much illuminating for hard-core fans.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book highly intriguing. The book contains insightful quotes and esoteric facts about his passions, family life along with speehes and lectures. This is great work - definitely worth the read.

[nilay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping to see more personal notes in this book, which is the majority of newspaper articles.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

America’s Greatest Author

Good insights into Sam Clemens the man. I was hoping to learn more about how he kept his notebooks. Every word was an enjoyable read.

[Brian Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved all the personal letters, notes, pictures and contemporary articles, I just didn’t understand why there were so many direct excerpts from his books.

[ruby vozza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book near the beginning of high school when I was reading Huckleberry Finn, and got super interested in Mark Twain (after only reading European authors in class). My god there is so much juicy gossip in this about his life and his loves, and so much !WISDOM! On other writers, on weather, censorship, literary offenses, on sex, adverbs, adjectives, and much more...one of my favorite inclusions is Twain’s letter to his brother (who he typical referred to as his “Dear Bro”) written on a typewriter called “On Typewriters”...sooo mundane, yet so amusing to meee!

“Dear Brother:
I am trying t to get the hang of this new f fangled writing machine, but am not making a shining success of it. However this is the first attempt I ever have made, & yet I perceivethat I shall soon & easily acquire a fine facility in its use. I saw the thing in Boston the other day & was greatly taken wi:th it. susie has struck the keys once or twice, & no doubt has printed some letters which do not belong where she put them.
The having been a compositor is likely to be a. great help to me,since o ne chiefly needs swiftness in banging the keys.the machine costs 125 dollars.the machine has several virtues I believe it will print faster than I can write. One may lean back in his chair & work it. It piles an awful stack of words on one page. It dont miss things or scatter ink blots around. Of course it saves paper.” Ah haha I love that too much. This just has absolutely everything and nothing you could ask for, a whole life in this little peak into Twain’s mind

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has really only been the past few years that I have started to dig deeper into the works of Mark Twain. Of course, I was a fan of his better-known works and A Connecticut Yankee... was one of my favorite books as a teenager. But, in many ways, Mark Twain has been so iconic — so… set in marble — for so long that it has been easy to look in other directions.

And that has been my single biggest literary failure.

In Mark Twain's Notebooks, Carlo DeVito has compiled a wonderful selection of writings, speeches, and contemporary descriptions by and about Mark Twain and has, in the process, fleshed out the man in a way that can only be described as "illuminating". Throughout, we see Twain's wit and charm and keen sense of observation and… well… humanity. I started the book with a general respect for Mark Twain; I finished the book with a deep affection for Samuel Clemens and his alter-ego. So much so, in fact, that I plan to divert my attentions from other authors and topics to embark on a re-reading of some of my old favorite Twain classics, if only to get a better sense of what I missed in those first readings so very long ago.