After keeping us waiting for a century, Mark Twain will finally reveal all

[westofyou]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...l-1980695.html

Exactly a century after rumours of his death turned out to be entirely accurate, one of Mark Twain's dying wishes is at last coming true: an extensive, outspoken and revelatory autobiography which he devoted the last decade of his life to writing is finally going to be published.

The creator of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and some of the most frequently misquoted catchphrases in the English language left behind 5,000 unedited pages of memoirs when he died in 1910, together with handwritten notes saying that he did not want them to hit bookshops for at least a century.

That milestone has now been reached, and in November the University of California, Berkeley, where the manuscript is in a vault, will release the first volume of Mark Twain's autobiography. The eventual trilogy will run to half a million words, and shed new light on the quintessentially American novelist.

[dougdirt]

Didn't know about this, but am excited to see it. Read Huckleberry Finn in 1st grade and its been one of my favorites ever since.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Didn't know about this, but am excited to see it. Read Huckleberry Finn in 1st grade and its been one of my favorites ever since.

Huckleberry?

You sure you don't mean Tom Sawyer?

I read Tom Sawyer when I was about seven, about 5 years ago I reread Huckleberry Finn for the first time since HS and was amazed at how much more advanced piece of art it was than I had thought pror. It's definitly not a book for children as the main audience, while Tom Sawyer certainly is.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by westofyou

Huckleberry?

You sure you don't mean Tom Sawyer?

I read Tom Sawyer when I was about seven, about 5 years ago I reread Huckleberry Finn for the first time since HS and was amazed at how much more advanced piece of art it was than I had thought pror. It's definitly not a book for children as the main audience, while Tom Sawyer certainly is.

I am sure. Still own the book. My grandmother had it at her house and I just picked it up one day while over there and started reading. There were a lot of times where I had to stop and get out the dictionary while reading that book.

[WMR]

Anyone read Pudd'nhead Wilson?

One of Twain's lesser-known works, but it's a truly fascinating read. Amazing how America has changed in a relatively short period of time.

[Kingspoint]

Originally Posted by westofyou

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...l-1980695.html

Cool. Looking forward to it.

Had a marvelous time touring through his home in Hartford, Connectictut. Also enjoyed going through the Mark Twain Library in another city in Connecticut...want to say, Redding.

[nate]

It will probably contain all the answers to "Lost."

[Donder]

Originally Posted by WMR

Anyone read Pudd'nhead Wilson?

One of Twain's lesser-known works, but it's a truly fascinating read. Amazing how America has changed in a relatively short period of time.

I did a report on Pudd'nhead when I was in high school. I have read it again since. His combination of humor and tackling deep issues is remarkable. I feel like I just made one of the most obvious statements in literary criticism history.

It's fun to read about that crazy new-fangled idea: using fingerprints to identify people.

[redsmetz]

The essay Twain wrote on "that awful German language" is incredibly funny. He nails the language and its issues for those learning it very well. Since sometimes the verb is at the sentence's end, he writes about going on for a page with some run on sentence before finding out what the person was doing.

[Kingspoint]

Originally Posted by redsmetz

The essay Twain wrote on "that awful German language" is incredibly funny. He nails the language and its issues for those learning it very well. Since sometimes the verb is at the sentence's end, he writes about going on for a page with some run on sentence before finding out what the person was doing.

Run-on sentences were the norm of the day in Twain's time. He changed that.

[marcshoe]

Man, I want to read this. Knowing how cynical Twain became as he grew older, it will be fascinating to read what was going on with him internally.

[macro]

So, no book signings, I assume?

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by redsmetz

The essay Twain wrote on "that awful German language" is incredibly funny. He nails the language and its issues for those learning it very well. Since sometimes the verb is at the sentence's end, he writes about going on for a page with some run on sentence before finding out what the person was doing.

The German language is awful, just plain awful. The words themselves can be considered run on sentences. I have been overseas a couple of times and have found German the most difficult language to understand.

How did Berkley end up with this manuscript? Seems like an odd place for something of Twain's to end up.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

How did Berkley end up with this manuscript? Seems like an odd place for something of Twain's to end up.

http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/MTP/about.html


From Paine's death in 1937 until 1979, they were under the care of four successive editors who were also literary executors for Clemens's estate: Bernard DeVoto at the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Dixon Wecter at the Henry E. Huntington Library in San Marino, California, and laterPortrait of Mark Twain here at Berkeley, followed in turn by Henry Nash Smith and Frederick Anderson, both at Berkeley.

This basic core of original documents by and about Mark Twain was deposited at Berkeley in 1949 and bequeathed to the University of California upon the death in 1962 of Mark Twain's sole surviving daughter, Clara Clemens Samossoud. Since 1949 the Library has added, and continues to add, original documents to that basic core: letters, manuscripts, a dozen scrapbooks kept by Clemens and his brother Orion, first editions and other rare printings, photographs, and various important collateral documents, such as the diaries of Mark Twain's secretary, Isabel V. Lyon.

Since 1980 the expanding archive and the editorial project based in it have been under the direction of Robert H. Hirst.

[RichRed]

Originally Posted by macro

So, no book signings, I assume?

Maybe Hal Holbrook can do it.