"I've struck it" Mark Twain wrote in a 1904 letter to a friend. "And I will give it away-to you. You will never know how much enjoyment you have lost until you get to dictating your autobiography." Thus, after dozens of false starts and hundreds of pages, Twain embarked on his "Final (and Right) Plan" for telling the story of his life. His innovative notion-to "talk only about the thing which interests you for the moment"-meant that his thoughts could range freely. The strict instruction that these texts remain unpublished for 100 years meant that when they came out, he would be "dead, and unaware, and indifferent" and therefore free to speak his "whole frank mind." The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Twain's death. In celebration of this important milestone and in honor of the cherished tradition of publishing Mark Twain's works, UC Press is proud to offer for the first time Mark Twain's uncensored autobiography in its entirety and exactly as he left it. This major literary event brings to readers, admirers, and scholars the first of three essential volumes and presents Mark Twain's authentic and unsuppressed voice, brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions, and speaking clearly from the grave as he intended.
One hundred years after his death, literary historians know plenty about Mark Twain's adventurous life: his days driving a riverboat in antebellum Missouri, his first-hand experience of the Gold Rush, travels in Europe and the Pacific and of course his legendary writings that carved the face of 19th-century America. But only now has Twain's own account of his illustrious life reached the printing press, after a century-long embargo by his own request. The first of three volumes, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN explores these broad experiences plus scores of Twain's private and candid memories on the figures and foibles of his time. Selected by Publishers Weekly as a 2010 Top 100 Book.
- Genre: Biography + Autobiography, Literary Criticism
- Subgenre: General, American / General
- Publisher: Univ of California Pr
- Pages: 736
- Language: English
- Format: hardcover
- Release Date: November 15, 2010
- Date Published: November 15, 2010