Autobiography of Mark Twain

Mark Twain
Autobiography of Mark Twain - $9.79
2010

Mark Twain had a knack for delivering the unexpected. He made a name for himself as a journalist while not writing the stories he set out to. He would procrastinate until the last minute then turn in something different to his editor. This was a nightmare to his editor but exactly what the people wanted. He was a very popular writer in his time because even though he was a humorist he never attacked people in a negative way.

Twain knew what he was writing in his autobiography and asked that it not be printed until 100 years after his death. He did not want to diminish his popular persona. He said he wouldn't care what people thought about him 100 years. He also thought that if he wasn't being discussed 100 years later this would be a way of making himself relevant. No one could of guessed that he would still be as widely read 100 years after his death as he was when he was a very popular living writer.

Mark Twain was always tactful. He could make someone feel important even when insulting them.

"This book is not a revenge-record. When I build a fire under a person in it, I do not do it merely because of the enjoyment I get out of seeing him fry, but because he is worth the trouble. It is then a compliment, a distinction; let him give thanks and keep quiet. I do not fry the small, the commonplace, the unworthy."

The autobiography is compiled of things he wrote that he did not want published as well as writings specifically written to be included here.

"It is a system which is a complete and purposed jumble — a course which begins nowhere, follows no specific route, and can never reach an end while I am alive, for the reason that if I should talk to the stenographer two hours a day for a hundred years, I should still never be able to set down a tenth part of the things which have interested me in my lifetime."

He wanted the autobiography published 100 years after his death but his estate published it several times before. Twain published a few chapters that he thought acceptable before he died.

Chapters from My Autobiography - Free

Here is a previous version of the autobiography. This is not the new edited version but is very close and much cheaper.

Autobiography of Mark Twain - $2.99

This is the second piece in the Mark Twain series. Knowing the background of a writer will help in understanding some of the points and in getting a better understanding. By reading the Henderson Biography on Twain and the Autobiography, you will be ready to dive into the Mark Twain library.

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