Mark Twain: A Life [J0009]

2006 - PB Excellent condition Ron Powers's tour de force has been widely acclaimed as the best life and times, filled with Mark Twain's voice, and as a great American story. Samuel Clemens, the man known as Mark Twain, invented the American voice and became one of our greatest celebrities. His life mirrored his country's, as he grew from a Mississippi River boyhood in the days of the frontier, to a Wild-West journalist during the Gold Rush, to become the king of the eastern establishment and a global celebrity as America became an international power. Along the way, Mark Twain keenly observed the characters and voices that filled the growing country, and left us our first authentically American literature. Ron Powers's magnificent biography offers the definitive life of the founding father of our culture.

From recent-ish Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "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.""; "Very detailed book of the time period as well as Samuel Clemens' life. Great read."; "The definitive biography of Samuel Clemens. A legend in his own time, there was and continues to this day more incorrect things known about him than correct. Mr Powers carefully details his entire life, separating fact from fiction in an intriguing and informative biography. Highly recommended!"