The Singular Mark Twain

This year is the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain's death.  He stipulated that his Autobiography not be published until this date occurred - now it is coming out in 3 volumes to be published by the University of California Press (1st volume due November 2010).  After reading The Singular Mark Twain by Fred Kaplan, I am even more anxious to delve into Twain's autobiography.  Twain said, "I think we never become really & genuinely our entire & honest selves until we are dead -- & not then until we have been dead years & years.  People ought to start dead, & then they would be honest so much earlier."  His Autobiography promises to be a revelatory read.

The Singular Mark Twain is another tome - 655 pp. - but his story was told with such panache that it was not at all daunting.  As a longtime fan of Twain -- I re-read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn again last year and found it even deeper than I remembered it -- it was interesting to me to read of his life, his love for his wife Livy, and the relationships he had with other important figures of the age, particularly William Dean Howells.  I read Howells' A Hazard of New Fortunes in college, but don't remember much of it.  Howells certainly was a good and loyal friend to Twain over the course of many, many years, and Twain was often not an easy man to deal with. 

I would have eliminated some of the details of Twain's financial problems; his penchant for poor investments was detailed repeatedly.  These are the only parts of the book I glossed over.  I'd been aware that he became even more difficult toward the end of his life, but did not know the details.  It was dismaying how easily swayed he was by his daughter Clara against Isabel Lyon, who devoted so many years of her life to making Twain happy as secretary, companion and housekeeper.  This was probably the worst case of Twain turning against people he had formerly held dear.  The darker aspects of his personality (and his writing) were always there -- it seems that as he aged, he was less reticent to keep them hidden.

What was most entertaining to me was seeing the variety of ways he manifested his individuality. He was generally fearless in airing his opinions, some of which were quite unpopular in his day -- he was disdainful of religion, outspoken against prejudice (a contrast to his early years), and against imperialism.  He was an avid traveler who preferred ships over trains, curious to experience the mores and people of many different lands.  He explored areas physically and mentally that many of his contemporaries were reluctant to visit.

I can see why Hal Holbrooke never gets bored playing Twain.  Mark Twain was such a rich personality, so full of wit, so very "singular."  He was very often blind to his faults, but aren't we all?