What do you think?
Rate this book
Mark Twain: A Life
A Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award-winning author of Flags of Our Fathers presents a narrative portrait of Samuel Clemens's life behind his literary persona, in a depiction based on tens of thousands of letters and journal entries that covers his experiences on the Mississippi during the golden age of steamboats, "wild west" Nevada newspaper career, and relationships with such figures as Ulysses S. Grant. 100,000 first printing.
736 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
256 people are currently reading
2442 people want to read
About the author
Ron Powers
34 books97 followersRon 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 177 reviews
December 17, 2021
I finally finished it. After a full month of reading this very, very thorough, in-depth, academically written biography of one of America's first rockstars, Mr. Mark Twain.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Twain's real name) was a Civil War fugitive, failed silver miner, journalist, lecturer, author, entertainer, humorist, entrepreneur and world traveler. He also was troubled with hard financial times until the age of 65.
Be prepared to invest some time, should you tackle this one, as some heavy reading is involved.
All this being said, I can't imagine that a better bio of Twain can exist.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Twain's real name) was a Civil War fugitive, failed silver miner, journalist, lecturer, author, entertainer, humorist, entrepreneur and world traveler. He also was troubled with hard financial times until the age of 65.
Be prepared to invest some time, should you tackle this one, as some heavy reading is involved.
All this being said, I can't imagine that a better bio of Twain can exist.
January 4, 2016
Wow, this is a huge book and it took me two months to finish! So right off the bat, if you're not into biographies, put this book back on the shelf and check out something else. Secondly, if you're not into Twain or have never read one of his books, or you're not into the writing process and publishing, again, put it back on the shelf. This thing is a commitment!
Mark Twain is my favorite author. I've read most of his books and some of his essays and sketches. I was familiar with his writing and his personal life before reading this book. So from that perspective, what has Ron Powers done with the subject? Well, a lot.
The first part of Twain's youth in Hannibal is pretty short and Powers takes the reader right into the beginnings of Twain becoming "a writer". One thing that made this biography unique is how Powers doesn't just tell you what Twain did or how he did it, but he includes history from the time period (specifically the 1870s-1880's) so I felt transported back to post-Civil war American culture. I had forgotten what a unique time ("The Gilded Age") that was with regard to industrialism, all the new inventions, and new ways of thinking in medicine, science, and politics. Powers does a great job of reminding us that Twain was an author who was famous in his own time.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 is because I did feel like it dragged in a few sections. Powers included a lot of the details of how publishing houses worked at that time, more than I wanted to know. All in all, if you like Twain and want to know more - and you have a couple months to spare - enjoy!
Mark Twain is my favorite author. I've read most of his books and some of his essays and sketches. I was familiar with his writing and his personal life before reading this book. So from that perspective, what has Ron Powers done with the subject? Well, a lot.
The first part of Twain's youth in Hannibal is pretty short and Powers takes the reader right into the beginnings of Twain becoming "a writer". One thing that made this biography unique is how Powers doesn't just tell you what Twain did or how he did it, but he includes history from the time period (specifically the 1870s-1880's) so I felt transported back to post-Civil war American culture. I had forgotten what a unique time ("The Gilded Age") that was with regard to industrialism, all the new inventions, and new ways of thinking in medicine, science, and politics. Powers does a great job of reminding us that Twain was an author who was famous in his own time.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 is because I did feel like it dragged in a few sections. Powers included a lot of the details of how publishing houses worked at that time, more than I wanted to know. All in all, if you like Twain and want to know more - and you have a couple months to spare - enjoy!
November 16, 2020
https://thebestbiographies.com/2020/1...
“Mark Twain: A Life” was published in 2005 and is one of a dozen books authored by Ron Powers – not including four he co-authored as well as a biography of Jim Henson he wrote which remains unpublished due to objections from the deceased puppeteer’s family. Powers won a Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for critical writing as a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. His most recent book “No One Cares About Crazy People: My Family and the Heartbreak of Mental Illness in America” explores his two sons’ battles with schizophrenia.
This biography’s most obvious strength is its ability to follow the jagged contours of Twain’s tumultuous life – observing, considering and coherently reporting the countless twists and turns negotiated during his seventy-four-years of success, infamy, pain and hardship. And during most of its 627-page run, the narrative incorporates healthy doses of cultural and social context, providing an invaluable backdrop to Twain’s various machinations.
Many readers will be entranced by early tales of his days as a budding reporter in Nevada, his years spent as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River and his “luxury cruise” to the Holy Land in 1867. Others will appreciate the persistent appearance of witty one-liners (“The first weeks of Sam’s courtship bore all the cerebral complexity of a Saint Bernard beating its tail against the floor.”)
Powers’s prose in this adventurous biography is much like Twain himself – thoughtful, complex, often quite clever and, at times, almost irreverent. But readers who have grown accustomed to the alluring literary voice of biographers such as Chernow or McCullough will find this biography rougher terrain. The narrative is delightfully trenchant and penetrating but rarely elegant or smooth-flowing…and never settles into a rhythm for long.
In addition, while some authors incorporate highbrow vocabulary with admirable dexterity, Powers’s use of sophisticated syntax seems designed to send his audience searching for a dictionary. Finally, the biography ends promptly with Twain’s death; no consideration of his life or legacy is provided beyond that which is subtly injected into preceding chapters. Since much of his fame accrued after his death, Powers’s failure to consider Twain within the context of our time is regrettable.
Overall, Ron Powers’s “Mark Twain: A Life” may be as close to a fully-satisfying biography of Twain as is possible given the daunting complexity of this restless, gifted and flawed American Voice. It seems unlikely that another biographer will research Samuel Clemens more fully, analyze his character more deeply or be more unsparing (if still sympathetic) of his personal and professional failures. But if it is possible to write a better biography of Mark Twain, my money is on Ron Chernow (rumored to be working on a biography of Twain at the moment).
Overall rating: 3¾ stars
“Mark Twain: A Life” was published in 2005 and is one of a dozen books authored by Ron Powers – not including four he co-authored as well as a biography of Jim Henson he wrote which remains unpublished due to objections from the deceased puppeteer’s family. Powers won a Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for critical writing as a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. His most recent book “No One Cares About Crazy People: My Family and the Heartbreak of Mental Illness in America” explores his two sons’ battles with schizophrenia.
This biography’s most obvious strength is its ability to follow the jagged contours of Twain’s tumultuous life – observing, considering and coherently reporting the countless twists and turns negotiated during his seventy-four-years of success, infamy, pain and hardship. And during most of its 627-page run, the narrative incorporates healthy doses of cultural and social context, providing an invaluable backdrop to Twain’s various machinations.
Many readers will be entranced by early tales of his days as a budding reporter in Nevada, his years spent as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River and his “luxury cruise” to the Holy Land in 1867. Others will appreciate the persistent appearance of witty one-liners (“The first weeks of Sam’s courtship bore all the cerebral complexity of a Saint Bernard beating its tail against the floor.”)
Powers’s prose in this adventurous biography is much like Twain himself – thoughtful, complex, often quite clever and, at times, almost irreverent. But readers who have grown accustomed to the alluring literary voice of biographers such as Chernow or McCullough will find this biography rougher terrain. The narrative is delightfully trenchant and penetrating but rarely elegant or smooth-flowing…and never settles into a rhythm for long.
In addition, while some authors incorporate highbrow vocabulary with admirable dexterity, Powers’s use of sophisticated syntax seems designed to send his audience searching for a dictionary. Finally, the biography ends promptly with Twain’s death; no consideration of his life or legacy is provided beyond that which is subtly injected into preceding chapters. Since much of his fame accrued after his death, Powers’s failure to consider Twain within the context of our time is regrettable.
Overall, Ron Powers’s “Mark Twain: A Life” may be as close to a fully-satisfying biography of Twain as is possible given the daunting complexity of this restless, gifted and flawed American Voice. It seems unlikely that another biographer will research Samuel Clemens more fully, analyze his character more deeply or be more unsparing (if still sympathetic) of his personal and professional failures. But if it is possible to write a better biography of Mark Twain, my money is on Ron Chernow (rumored to be working on a biography of Twain at the moment).
Overall rating: 3¾ stars
June 7, 2024
A fresh 21st century Twain biography.
April 5, 2025
An excellent read.
October 4, 2017
Mark Twain has long been my favorite American literary personality, and this excellent, often witty and wry, biography delineates why. We learn in this biography about Clemens’ boyhood in Hannibal, Missouri; his introduction to the written word in a printing shop, and his lifelong obsession w/ typesetting; his life on the Mississippi River, both as a boy and as a riverboat pilot; his aborted participation in a “secesh” unit that led to him “lighting out for the territory”—Nevada; where he became a typesetter for a Virginia City newspaper, a miner, a newspaper writer, a lecturer, and finally, the inventor of “Mark Twain,” the first American rock star.
We also see him pissing off nearly everyone he ever meets, even close friends and family, at one time or another, w/ his intolerance for fools and hypocrites, and his pathetic need for eastern “approval,” which leads to his ruinous investments in inventions that never pan out and his marriage to the daughter of a wealthy, New York businessman. However, he and Livy lead a happy life and have four children, only one of which dies in childhood.
The author devotes entire chapters to certain books, mostly the early, career-making ones. I esp enjoyed the chapter about “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” which is my favorite Twain book.
Many people don’t realize that Twain’s turn to dark themes in his writing in the last quarter of his life were actually inside him all along. He long doubted God’s existence, but upon the death of his eldest daughter in 1896, while the rest of the family was in Europe, he finally started giving vent to the darkness. The death of his wife fully 10 years before he died sent him over the edge in his writing. The death of his youngest daughter in her bathtub after an epileptic seizure in 1909 completed his own denouement. He developed heart problems and died five months after her.
I’m from Mizzou so feel a kinship w/ Twain b/c I could recognize his rural boyhood. I could also relate to his struggle w/ racism, and really appreciate Huck’s dawning understanding of Jim as a man, not just a “nigger.” I also understand his ambivalence and avoidance of the Civil War, as that is still a loaded subject in Mizzou. And I definitely understand Twain’s giving in to despair after the loss of his daughters and his wife. I, too, have lost a daughter after she had an epileptic seizure.
This biography of Mark Twain brought him to life, insecurities, faults, and all. Thank you for the gift, Mr. Powers. I wish I could give you more than five stars. Sorry, not sorry, for the long review.
We also see him pissing off nearly everyone he ever meets, even close friends and family, at one time or another, w/ his intolerance for fools and hypocrites, and his pathetic need for eastern “approval,” which leads to his ruinous investments in inventions that never pan out and his marriage to the daughter of a wealthy, New York businessman. However, he and Livy lead a happy life and have four children, only one of which dies in childhood.
The author devotes entire chapters to certain books, mostly the early, career-making ones. I esp enjoyed the chapter about “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” which is my favorite Twain book.
Many people don’t realize that Twain’s turn to dark themes in his writing in the last quarter of his life were actually inside him all along. He long doubted God’s existence, but upon the death of his eldest daughter in 1896, while the rest of the family was in Europe, he finally started giving vent to the darkness. The death of his wife fully 10 years before he died sent him over the edge in his writing. The death of his youngest daughter in her bathtub after an epileptic seizure in 1909 completed his own denouement. He developed heart problems and died five months after her.
I’m from Mizzou so feel a kinship w/ Twain b/c I could recognize his rural boyhood. I could also relate to his struggle w/ racism, and really appreciate Huck’s dawning understanding of Jim as a man, not just a “nigger.” I also understand his ambivalence and avoidance of the Civil War, as that is still a loaded subject in Mizzou. And I definitely understand Twain’s giving in to despair after the loss of his daughters and his wife. I, too, have lost a daughter after she had an epileptic seizure.
This biography of Mark Twain brought him to life, insecurities, faults, and all. Thank you for the gift, Mr. Powers. I wish I could give you more than five stars. Sorry, not sorry, for the long review.
February 22, 2017
The book deserves a three and a half star rating. A long read, but very detailed. The only thing that kept me from giving the book a four star rating, is the author seemed to have a 'word of the day' requirement. Thankfully, I read the Kindle version, so the built in dictionary was quite useful. I enjoyed how the author described advancements and happenings in the world in conjunction with the events in Twain's life. A couple of the most interesting things I learned, was that Twain owned a publishing company, and that company published President Grant's autobiography. Twain was bankrupt for a time, but managed to work his way back to prosperity through his writings and lecture circuit. There were many tragedies in his life, and he met many personalities of the day. If you're interested in the man, his writings, or the time period a highly recommended read.
August 9, 2022
4,5 stars - English Ebook
Loved this book, after visiting his boyhood home in Hannibal, Missouri. Twain was a complicated man, with some negative characteristics that dwarf his positives. Those who don't like this biography are probably folks who idealize Clemens based on his literature. His relationship to his family and children; his lack of discipline when it came to investments; the hard side of his personality toward other celebrities who he felt challenged his primacy in the last half of the 19th century: these are all instructive facets of a very complicated man. Powers paints Clemens warts and all.
One of my favorite genres is biography, especially biographies that place me into the context of the times. In te centre so to say. This book achieves that.
Loved this book, after visiting his boyhood home in Hannibal, Missouri. Twain was a complicated man, with some negative characteristics that dwarf his positives. Those who don't like this biography are probably folks who idealize Clemens based on his literature. His relationship to his family and children; his lack of discipline when it came to investments; the hard side of his personality toward other celebrities who he felt challenged his primacy in the last half of the 19th century: these are all instructive facets of a very complicated man. Powers paints Clemens warts and all.
One of my favorite genres is biography, especially biographies that place me into the context of the times. In te centre so to say. This book achieves that.
February 21, 2009
For someone like me who has never studied the life of Mark Twain, nor 19th century history, at least not my attempts to not learn history in high school, this tome is quite an education. Thoroughly covers Mark Twain's life, including commentary on past writings by other authors about him. Why is it that most creative geniuses seem to be dysfunctional in everyday life? Maybe genius is part of a mental and/or emotional pathology. Anyway, not having read very many biographies, I can't say whether this one is exceptional or not, but it held my interest. The book provides plenty of information along with insight about its primary subject as well as how his life affected and was affected by the times. Well written and highly recommended.
April 1, 2025
After finding a gorgeous copy of a Harper & Row 1935 edition of The Family Mark Twain boxset at a yard sale for a staggering two dollars, I was reminded that I still needed to read the massive biography I bought years ago about Mark Twain. So here we are.
Mark Twain: A Life is a well-researched and detailed biography that examines the complexities of Samuel Clemens better-known-as Mark Twain. The book provides an overly detailed and daunting exploration of his life, from his humble beginnings in Missouri to his rise as one of America's most beloved and influential writers. Powers paints a vivid picture of Twain’s personality, blending his sharp wit and humor with the deep sorrow and personal struggles he faced, with the loss of loved ones and financial hardships, capturing his inner turmoil, his triumphs, and his flaws.
Powers carefully deconstructs Twain’s career, his travels, and the iconic works he created; highlighting Twain’s social commentary and his critical views on issues like race, inequality, and human nature, showing him as a man ahead of his time.
I really enjoyed the depth of historical backdrop Powers included on Twain's life, weaving in significant events and figures that influenced his development as a writer and a public figure; it’s rich in context for understanding how historical events and figures shaped Mark Twain’s personal life, beliefs, and the literary works that made him a central figure in American history.
The Civil War probably being the biggest one, shaped his experiences during this time and influenced much of his later work, especially The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Gilded Age being a period of rapid industrialization, economic disparity, and political corruption in the United States, Twain, known for his satirical commentary on society, used his writing to criticize the excesses and injustices of this era, and his observations were deeply connected to this historical moment. The Gold Rush, frontier life, and the transformation of the American West; Twain's opposition to imperialism during the Boer War and Spanish-American War; and his relationships to prominent historical figures, such as Ulysses S. Grant, who became a close friend of Twain’s, and Theodore Roosevelt, with whom Twain had complex interactions—are a few others.
While the style was informative and detailed, it occasionally felt dense or academic, particularly when Powers delved into the minutiae of Twain's later years and the particulars of his publishing, lecturing, inventions and investment endeavors. However, the overall tone remained engaging, and Powers’ descriptive flair ensured that the biography was not just a dry account of events but also an immersive exploration of one of America’s greatest literary figures.
Although I have thoroughly enjoyed spelunking into the tempestuous journey of Mark Twain's life, having spent a little over two weeks getting to know him, I find myself with a touch of departing wistfulness, despite feeling a quiet relief in reaching the final page of this hefty tome.
Mark Twain: A Life is a well-researched and detailed biography that examines the complexities of Samuel Clemens better-known-as Mark Twain. The book provides an overly detailed and daunting exploration of his life, from his humble beginnings in Missouri to his rise as one of America's most beloved and influential writers. Powers paints a vivid picture of Twain’s personality, blending his sharp wit and humor with the deep sorrow and personal struggles he faced, with the loss of loved ones and financial hardships, capturing his inner turmoil, his triumphs, and his flaws.
For Sammy Clemens, reading became metanoiac, life changing. Words became objects of almost physical beauty to him, tooled and precise and as distinct from one another as snowflakes, each with its unique function and value in the universe. -page 27
Powers carefully deconstructs Twain’s career, his travels, and the iconic works he created; highlighting Twain’s social commentary and his critical views on issues like race, inequality, and human nature, showing him as a man ahead of his time.
I really enjoyed the depth of historical backdrop Powers included on Twain's life, weaving in significant events and figures that influenced his development as a writer and a public figure; it’s rich in context for understanding how historical events and figures shaped Mark Twain’s personal life, beliefs, and the literary works that made him a central figure in American history.
The Civil War probably being the biggest one, shaped his experiences during this time and influenced much of his later work, especially The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Gilded Age being a period of rapid industrialization, economic disparity, and political corruption in the United States, Twain, known for his satirical commentary on society, used his writing to criticize the excesses and injustices of this era, and his observations were deeply connected to this historical moment. The Gold Rush, frontier life, and the transformation of the American West; Twain's opposition to imperialism during the Boer War and Spanish-American War; and his relationships to prominent historical figures, such as Ulysses S. Grant, who became a close friend of Twain’s, and Theodore Roosevelt, with whom Twain had complex interactions—are a few others.
While the style was informative and detailed, it occasionally felt dense or academic, particularly when Powers delved into the minutiae of Twain's later years and the particulars of his publishing, lecturing, inventions and investment endeavors. However, the overall tone remained engaging, and Powers’ descriptive flair ensured that the biography was not just a dry account of events but also an immersive exploration of one of America’s greatest literary figures.
Although I have thoroughly enjoyed spelunking into the tempestuous journey of Mark Twain's life, having spent a little over two weeks getting to know him, I find myself with a touch of departing wistfulness, despite feeling a quiet relief in reaching the final page of this hefty tome.
February 17, 2015
This is a truly magnificent biography. I give it four rather than five stars only because there were so many bits of trivia about other people who merely crossed Twain's path that they occasionally bogged down an otherwise fascinating and well-executed biography of this man and his myth. Powers is a gifted and eloquent writer and his prose flows beautifully.
For those who have not read all Twain's works or have dim memories of grade-school readings the author does a marvelous job of contextualizing characters, plot, and places so the reader is not lost amid the many references and stories about Twain's enormous body of work.
I had no idea that he was a man of such volatility and guilts nor that he was a terrible speculator who risked financial ruin repeatedly. His moral progression from a southern son of slave-holding parents to a hectoring anti-imperialist is detailed here with clear eyes and without fawning praise. Clemens was cranky and cantankerous while funny, acerbic and tempestuous. Powers is meticulous in uncovering and demonstrating Twain's uncanny ear for dialect and meaning as well as his struggles with toning down his love for slang, swearing and drinking hard.
The sheer energy Twain deployed with his travels and writing of tens of thousand of words (by pen and paper of course) are preternatural. His adoration of his wife who could alone tame him was endearing. His many losses of brothers and children tragic. A steadfast and loyal friend he was quick to merciless revenge on those who he believed betrayed him and he was notoriously thin-skinned while happy to poke others. He was a humorist who was frequently very angry. He was a humorist who shattered literary conventions with seriousness of purpose.
He had wished to be a clergyman but he wasn't sure about God and was less sure about any religion. "If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be--a Christian." He was indifferent to the boundary between fact and fiction and his recollections and his stories were entwined messily.
Nuggets:
He slipped bats and snakes into his mother's sewing basket and she told him tales of brutal and sadistic Indian attacks on her mother's people.
He castigated the Bible as "blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies."
"Next I am privileged to infer that is far more goodness than ungoodness in man, for if it were not so man would have exterminated himself before this...I detest Man, but nevertheless this is true of him."
"There are many humorous,things in the world; among them the white man's notion that he is less savage than other savages."
"Wrinkles should merely show where the smiles have been."
Written by his friend, editor, confidant and fellow writer William Howells about Twain, "...the paradoxical charm of Mr. Clemens's best humor. It's wildest extravagance [springs from ] a deep feeling, a wrath with some folly which disquiets him worse than other men, a personal hatred for some humbug or pretension that embitters him beyond anything but laughter...At the bottom of his heart he has often the grimness of a reformer; his wit is turned...upon things that are out of joint, that are unfair or ...ignoble and cry out to his love of justice or discipline."
For those who have not read all Twain's works or have dim memories of grade-school readings the author does a marvelous job of contextualizing characters, plot, and places so the reader is not lost amid the many references and stories about Twain's enormous body of work.
I had no idea that he was a man of such volatility and guilts nor that he was a terrible speculator who risked financial ruin repeatedly. His moral progression from a southern son of slave-holding parents to a hectoring anti-imperialist is detailed here with clear eyes and without fawning praise. Clemens was cranky and cantankerous while funny, acerbic and tempestuous. Powers is meticulous in uncovering and demonstrating Twain's uncanny ear for dialect and meaning as well as his struggles with toning down his love for slang, swearing and drinking hard.
The sheer energy Twain deployed with his travels and writing of tens of thousand of words (by pen and paper of course) are preternatural. His adoration of his wife who could alone tame him was endearing. His many losses of brothers and children tragic. A steadfast and loyal friend he was quick to merciless revenge on those who he believed betrayed him and he was notoriously thin-skinned while happy to poke others. He was a humorist who was frequently very angry. He was a humorist who shattered literary conventions with seriousness of purpose.
He had wished to be a clergyman but he wasn't sure about God and was less sure about any religion. "If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be--a Christian." He was indifferent to the boundary between fact and fiction and his recollections and his stories were entwined messily.
Nuggets:
He slipped bats and snakes into his mother's sewing basket and she told him tales of brutal and sadistic Indian attacks on her mother's people.
He castigated the Bible as "blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies."
"Next I am privileged to infer that is far more goodness than ungoodness in man, for if it were not so man would have exterminated himself before this...I detest Man, but nevertheless this is true of him."
"There are many humorous,things in the world; among them the white man's notion that he is less savage than other savages."
"Wrinkles should merely show where the smiles have been."
Written by his friend, editor, confidant and fellow writer William Howells about Twain, "...the paradoxical charm of Mr. Clemens's best humor. It's wildest extravagance [springs from ] a deep feeling, a wrath with some folly which disquiets him worse than other men, a personal hatred for some humbug or pretension that embitters him beyond anything but laughter...At the bottom of his heart he has often the grimness of a reformer; his wit is turned...upon things that are out of joint, that are unfair or ...ignoble and cry out to his love of justice or discipline."
Want to read
August 12, 2009I did not finish this book so here is my impression. One striking thing about Mark Twain is the way events in his life made an indelible impression. It something like when a child sees a rather ordinary event as an extraordinary event while an adult will view the same event as commonplace. The child will always remember the event while the adult may forget it. Twain had the gift of remembering in detail the events of his life. He recreated these impressions into print and turned into a prolific writer.
May 1, 2010
A fine biography of Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens. The book traces the arc of his life from a hardscrabble beginning, living in a family with a father who had dreams of "aming it" but who could never quite reach that dream, often lkeaving the family in rather straitened circumstances. It details his maturing and his start in writing. One leaqrns that he wrote a lot of works that never were finished or--if finished--published. He paid a price for poor investments, but was always able to "come back." It is also the story of his somewhat forlorn later days. A very fine work. . . .
August 27, 2017
Ron Powers has written a powerful, masterful biography of a towering figure in American literature. He tells not only the story of Twain's life, but delves into the innumerable facets of his character that made him the man he was - husband, father, riverboat pilot, entrepreneur, internationally recognized celebrity and terrible money manager. When I finally put the book down, I felt like I had met the man. Truly a five star story!
December 6, 2019
Powers shows Twain using a prodigious imagination to fuse reality and myth. He also points to contexts that inspired the content of this imagination.
wishlist-b
July 29, 2019******************
*The Diaries of Adam and Eve 4 stars
*The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 4 stars
*Joan of Arc 3 stars
*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 3 stars
*The Innocents Abroad 3 stars
*Mark Twain by Ron Powers TBR
I think I might read these instead:
*Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1: The Complete and Authoritative Edition
*Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2: The Complete and Authoritative Edition
*Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3: The Complete and Authoritative Edition
*The Diaries of Adam and Eve 4 stars
*The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 4 stars
*Joan of Arc 3 stars
*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 3 stars
*The Innocents Abroad 3 stars
*Mark Twain by Ron Powers TBR
I think I might read these instead:
*Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1: The Complete and Authoritative Edition
*Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2: The Complete and Authoritative Edition
*Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3: The Complete and Authoritative Edition
Want to read
July 23, 2025I read a review that said this was better than the recent one. Interesting about fake news in the frontier newspaper days. It definitely convinced me we live in Twain's America. He speaks to the current moment in a way some other writers of that era don't. This book softballs some creepier Twain stuff. Twain coined the term "Gilded Age" and I was impressed by the portrayal of his opposition to US-Phillipines war in "The True Flag."
February 6, 2024
Very detailed book of the time period as well as Samuel Clemens' life. Great read.
July 12, 2012
Thought it was one of the best biographies I've read. Good window into American mindset, history, nuances of 19th Century. Here is an excerpt from an email I sent to a friend right after finishing the bio(subjective and a little self aggrandizing, I know...but it reveals how the bio affected me...):
Just finished the Twain bio. The trouble with biographies...they bring me way down.WAY DOWN! They immerse you in the arc of life, so there is always the verve and whoosh of the ascending curve as you vicariously relive the great man's rise to a pinnacle of sunlit accomplishment. Savor it for what it is, because the inevitable descent towards the grave awaits, the curve of decline,
old age, bitter disappointment and final dissolution. There is usually some foreshadowing wherin the biographer lets the reader know that the subject's best notes have been sung and the last chords are being strummed...if you're lucky, there will be a bit of saving grace and beauty in the swan song. Still, the slippery downslope is never fun to read about, especially now that I am sliding rapidly within my own arc...but what ads so much weight and thrust to the net effect of despair that biography, without fail, evokes in me... is the fact that my own arc is so ...looking for the right word(s) here......hmmmm, can't find it....some word that would reveal my accomplishments as nil, my song banal, my time as frittered away in the dubious persuit of the trivial, my soul as niggardly, my vision as blurred, my mind as shallow and chaotic......what is the sum of me in a word?
Just finished the Twain bio. The trouble with biographies...they bring me way down.WAY DOWN! They immerse you in the arc of life, so there is always the verve and whoosh of the ascending curve as you vicariously relive the great man's rise to a pinnacle of sunlit accomplishment. Savor it for what it is, because the inevitable descent towards the grave awaits, the curve of decline,
old age, bitter disappointment and final dissolution. There is usually some foreshadowing wherin the biographer lets the reader know that the subject's best notes have been sung and the last chords are being strummed...if you're lucky, there will be a bit of saving grace and beauty in the swan song. Still, the slippery downslope is never fun to read about, especially now that I am sliding rapidly within my own arc...but what ads so much weight and thrust to the net effect of despair that biography, without fail, evokes in me... is the fact that my own arc is so ...looking for the right word(s) here......hmmmm, can't find it....some word that would reveal my accomplishments as nil, my song banal, my time as frittered away in the dubious persuit of the trivial, my soul as niggardly, my vision as blurred, my mind as shallow and chaotic......what is the sum of me in a word?
November 15, 2008
I am currently reading this book for my book critique group. I doubt I get it finished in time for our meeting but not because it isn't interesting. Whenever I snatch a few minutes I'm into Twain. Great writing and didn't I think I knew most everything I needed to know about him? Yes, but I was wrong; even after the excellent PBS segment on Twain and visiting his home in Hartford, CT I am amazed at all I have learned in a few short sections of the book. I recommend it even though I am not finished. I have been a fan since I got my first copy of "Tom Sawyer," as a young child. At seven years of age I stood in awe of the fence at Hannibal. And much later stood where the exact spot of the Calaveras Jumping Frog episode took place. He remains my hero. Oh, yes one more mention; I read the book, "Mark and Libby," many years ago and it too was excellent. Especially when they were in Rome.
February 9, 2009
"A dog is der Hund the dog; a women is die Frau the wom[an]; a horse is das Pferd, the horse; now you put that dog in the Genitive case, & is he the same dog he was before? No sir; he is das Hundes; put him in the Dative case & what is he? Why, he is dem Hund. Now you snatch him into the accusative case & how is it with him? Why he is den Hunden? ... Read moreBut suppose he happens to be twins & you have to pluralize him – what then? Why sir they’ll swap that twin dog around thro’ the four cases till he’ll think he’s an entire International Dog Show all in his own person. I don’t like dogs, but I wouldn’t treat a dog like that. I wouldn’t even treat a borrowed dog that way.”
December 7, 2013
I did enjoy this book even though it took months and months to read it. It was really funny throughout, but it was a struggle to get through it at times. It was certainly written at a higher level than I am used to. I haven't read a book with so many unfamiliar words in years; that explains part of the struggle, but it was neat to learn new words.
Apparently I had no real understanding of all of the struggles he encountered during his fascinating life. Plus, i love learning of all the intersections of historical figures - who knew he was friends with US Grant? And that's just one example.
I'm definitely glad to have spent the time reading this.
Apparently I had no real understanding of all of the struggles he encountered during his fascinating life. Plus, i love learning of all the intersections of historical figures - who knew he was friends with US Grant? And that's just one example.
I'm definitely glad to have spent the time reading this.
March 31, 2008
Another of those extraordinary biographies that gifted writers have given us lately, one that focuses on personality, affect and responses to the subject's world. A more insightful (and engaging) biography of Mark Twain is hard to imagine. Either Powers adopted Train's sense of humor or he wrote of Twain because he responded to a personality like his own. In either case, Powers gives us more that a goodly share of laughing matter. Again one of those books that I only allow myself to read slowly, no more than 50 pages a day.
June 9, 2007
This book is more interesting if the index is used to find topics of interest. I find that I pick up the book every now and then and will do this. Whatever I read is interesting. But when I read the book from the beginning, it seemed tedious. Twain is an interesting life, no doubt.
August 22, 2016
I knew Mark Twain was always hustling for money, and I knew he was more than a little bit bitter and angry toward the end of his life, but until I read Powers' biography, I had no idea how deep Twain's (largely self-imposed) financial woes went, and how incredibly bitter and angry he became.
March 4, 2018
This was the most comprehensive book about Mark Twain's life that I could find. And it is a rather complex book to read by my standards. It's quite thick and filled with long involved sentences. Ron Powers is quite the writer and Mark Twain is a complicated subject to write about.
October 7, 2014
Just could not get in to this, dropped it at 20% or so.
April 4, 2016
An adventurous life filled with tragic losses and much success.
March 5, 2019
Very interesting read... Interesting life...but I think a lot was still left out. A tough subject to write about in less than a few thousand pages LOL
October 8, 2023
An excellent biography, one that skillfully takes into account contemporary scholarship and the author's own extensively documented life story. Samuel Clemens, AKA Mark Twain, has a well-deserved reputation as the best American writer of the 19th Century. But he was much more than that too--a perpetual crank and skeptic, a devoted husband and father, a horrific businessman and investor, and also one of the world's first true celebrities. Though some of the luster of his name has worn off over the years due to controversial positions he sometimes took, Twain was a true original and enormously influential.
Twain's presence was dominant over a forty year period, starting shortly after the American Civil War, and concluding in the early part of the 20th Century. Understanding Twain's life, be it in written form, or in the humorous and (usually) entertaining talks by which he entertained many an audience also provides the reader an understanding of the history of the time period. Twain rubbed shoulders with many significant figures of his period, befriended some, feuding with others, all to frequently entertaining effect.
Mark Twain: A Life is a lengthy book that took me a while to finish. It starts slow, but picks up speed and the interest of its audience quickly. The details of Twain's riotous youth spent in California and Nevada, while salacious, were far less interesting than the account of the mature period of his work, where he penned classic books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that are still required reading in schools. Powers discusses Twain's unique writing process, which will be of interest not just to history buffs, but also to those who enjoy analyzing classic literature.
Twain's presence was dominant over a forty year period, starting shortly after the American Civil War, and concluding in the early part of the 20th Century. Understanding Twain's life, be it in written form, or in the humorous and (usually) entertaining talks by which he entertained many an audience also provides the reader an understanding of the history of the time period. Twain rubbed shoulders with many significant figures of his period, befriended some, feuding with others, all to frequently entertaining effect.
Mark Twain: A Life is a lengthy book that took me a while to finish. It starts slow, but picks up speed and the interest of its audience quickly. The details of Twain's riotous youth spent in California and Nevada, while salacious, were far less interesting than the account of the mature period of his work, where he penned classic books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that are still required reading in schools. Powers discusses Twain's unique writing process, which will be of interest not just to history buffs, but also to those who enjoy analyzing classic literature.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 177 reviews