Mark Twain: God's Fool

by Hamlin Hill

After laughing their way through his classic and beloved depictions of nineteenth-century American life, few readers would suspect that Mark Twain’s last years were anything but happy and joyful. They would be wrong. Contrary to the myth perpetrated by his literary executors Twain ended his life as a frustrated writer plagued by paranoia. He suffered personal tragedies, got involved in questionable business ventures, and was a demanding and controlling father and husband.  As Mark Twain: God’s Fool demonstrates, the difficult circumstances of Twain’s personal life make his humorous output all the more surprising and admirable.  

 

 “Ham[lin] Hill remains among the smartest, most honest, and most humane of Twain scholars—and . . . God’s Fool parades those qualities on every page.”   Jeff Steinbrink, Franklin & Marshall College

 

“Fills a great, long-standing need for a thoroughly researched book about Mark Twain’s twilight years. . . . Splendidly, grippingly written and excellently documented. . . . Likely to be a standard work for as long as anyone can foresee.”   Choice

Genres: Biography

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hamlin Hill, writing in 1970, gave an early and well-thought out look at Mark Twain's later years. He makes copious references to the players' own words and presents an analysis unclouded by a need to make a case for the absolute good or evil of anyone. The writing stye is straightforward and I came away with a real appreciation for the fact that the final years of "Mark Twain" came before the final years of Sam Clemens. In the end, Clemens' flaws, undoubtedly enabled by those around him all his life, combined with age and ill health to produce a man out of touch with any reality but that of his need to remain beloved by the public and to ensure the financial comfort of his children.