| Samuel Clemens, known primarily as Mark Twain, is arguably America’s greatest and most influential writer. He was a man of letters and original thought, and those thoughts were often controversial, whether on an intimate or public level.
Twain was indeed an American original, and his originality could have only spawned from having grown up in the South along the Mississippi River during the middle of the 19th century. All of his grandeur, as well as flaws, are captured in Ron Chernow’s new biography, “Mark Twain.”
In this biography, Chernow proves once again why he is today’s preeminent single-volume biographer in the United States. The author, over the decades, has chosen only the most famous of American subjects, such as George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Alexander Hamilton, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan.
Of course, one could argue, what exactly is Chernow saying that hasn’t already been said about these people? What is he presenting that we aren’t already well-versed about?
The answer may very well be everything. The average person knows of these people without actually knowing them. Chernow’s works seem to challenge the reader, if not the entire American public, by rhetorically asking, “So you think you know this person?”
Chernow has presented, as would be expected, Twain’s life from cradle to grave. Of course, most prominently in the biography, Chernow heralds Twain’s writings, ranging from his books to his articles to his private letters to his unpublished works. |
