Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Mark Twain:
Let him write. Don’t let him business.
Quick synopsis:
A biography of iconic writer and terrible businessman, Mark Twain.
Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like:
Twain served on the Confederate side in the Civil War although rather briefly.
Fun Fact for History Nerds:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is his best-selling book at about 20 million copies sold.
My Take on Mark Twain:
When I finish a biography, I have a singular question I like to ask. If I met the subject of the book, would I have a good idea of what to expect? The apex of authors who consistently meet the standard of my question is Ron Chernow. In Mark Twain, he continues to show he is the master of biography while tackling one of the greatest literary minds in American history. Before I continue with the review, I would be remiss not to mention that Chernow’s books are very long. This one clocks in over 1,000 pages. It is excellent, but this is not a book you can do in one sitting. (At least, not a normal sitting. If you read this in one sitting you should see a doctor.)
In Chernow’s books, I always came away with what I felt was a different intent for each subject. For Washington, I felt Chernow was trying to humanize someone who was held in nearly godlike reverence. For Hamilton, it was about shining a light on a life which was not as celebrated as it should have been. Grant was about rescuing the legacy of a man who was revered as a warrior but shamed as a president. People blamed him for failing to fix an already broken system while ignoring how he courageously stood up to hate when many others refused to. In Mark Twain, I think Chernow wanted to take the greatest American humorist of all time and tell his story beyond just his writing.
And beyond his writing is some serious drama. If you worship Twain as a hero, then you will be challenged by this biography. I don’t mean that to suggest this is a smear campaign. Twain was as complicated as anyone else and a true biography like this is going to grapple with some unsettling content while lionizing other aspects. Chernow clearly reveres Twain, but he does not shy away from highlighting some truly weird stuff. I won’t tell you what “angel-fish” are, but….ick.
Chernow also tackles some more contemporary perspectives of Twain’s work. I appreciated Chernow’s willingness to wade into the Huck Finn controversy. For the uninitiated, the book has significant use of racial epithet that many people want expunged completely. The flip side of the argument is that the word is in their because Twain wanted readers to be uncomfortable. It was his way of pushing back against racism even if it may not be the full-throated denunciation we would want today. Chernow examines this dichotomy which is just part of a much bigger look at how Twain could be a bit of a racist himself and then the exact opposite right after.
A significant part of the book covers Twain’s self-destructive attempts at becoming a tycoon. For every timeless book he wrote, there was a hair-brained scheme which put Twain and his family on the edge of ruin. It is truly amazing seeing how one of America’s biggest skeptics on religion could fall prey to so many frauds. This is of course not a one-to-one comparison in subject matter, but it does show how Twain’s intelligence could be turned off like a light when he needed to employ the incisiveness that his books contained.
All this being said, the true revelation of the book is Twain’s wife, Livy. Chernow clearly shows just how vital she was to the Mark Twain we know. In fact, Twain might never have been the icon we know today without the steady hand of his wife. She was his confidante, his censor (in all things), and the glue to his family. After her passing, it becomes indisputable that she helped Twain be his best in all aspects of life. She, like any human, was complicated herself, but there is no question she was his better half.
No doubt about it; this book is an undertaking. It is worth it, though.
(This book was provided as an advance reader copy by Netgalley and The Penguin Press.)
Verdict:
Couldn’t be done better. Buy it here!
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