Mark Twain - by Ron Chernow (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The #1 New York Times Bestseller - One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2025- A Washington Post and New York Times Notable Book - Named a Best Book of 2025 by TIME, The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Christian Science Monitor, and Kirkus Reviews

"Comprehensive, enthralling . . . Mark Twain flows like the Mississippi River, its prose propelled by Mark Twain's own exuberance." --The Boston Globe

"Chernow writes with such ease and clarity . . . For all its length and detail, [Mark Twain] is deeply absorbing throughout." -- The Washington Post

Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow illuminates the full, fascinating, and complex life of the writer long celebrated as the father of American literature, Mark Twain

Before he was Mark Twain, he was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Born in 1835, the man who would become America's first, and most influential, literary celebrity spent his childhood dreaming of piloting steamboats on the Mississippi. But when the Civil War interrupted his career on the river, the young Twain went west to the Nevada Territory and accepted a job at a local newspaper, writing dispatches that attracted attention for their brashness and humor. It wasn't long before the former steamboat pilot from Missouri was recognized across the country for his literary brilliance, writing under a pen name that he would immortalize.

In this richly nuanced portrait of Mark Twain, acclaimed biographer Ron Chernow brings his considerable powers to bear on a man who shamelessly sought fame and fortune, and crafted his persona with meticulous care. After establishing himself as a journalist, satirist, and lecturer, he eventually settled in Hartford with his wife and three daughters, where he went on to write The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He threw himself into the hurly-burly of American culture, and emerged as the nation's most notable political pundit. At the same time, his madcap business ventures eventually bankrupted him; to economize, Twain and his family spent nine eventful years in exile in Europe. He suffered the death of his wife and two daughters, and the last stage of his life was marked by heartache, political crusades, and eccentric behavior that sometimes obscured darker forces at play.

Drawing on Twain's bountiful archives, including thousands of letters and hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, Chernow masterfully captures the man whose career reflected the country's westward expansion, industrialization, and foreign wars, and who was the most important white author of his generation to grapple so fully with the legacy of slavery. Today, more than one hundred years after his death, Twain's writing continues to be read, debated, and quoted. In this brilliant work of scholarship, a moving tribute to the writer's talent and humanity, Chernow reveals the magnificent and often maddening life of one of the most original characters in American history.

Review Quotes

"A comprehensive biography of one of the most important writers and social commentators in American history." --Barack Obama

"Chernow has given us as complete a picture [of Mark Twain] as may be possible . . . A compelling narrative written in graceful prose that seamlessly includes the distinctive voice of America's most identifiable writer . . . Chernow's Mark Twain earns its place alongside earlier well-respected biographies. I warmly recommend it to the community of Mark Twain scholars." --Lawrence Howe, The Mark Twain Annual

"In his biography of the famed satirist, Ron Chernow tracks, with patience and care, Twain's journey over nearly eight tumultuous decades. Mr. Chernow's tale is enlivened by blazing quotes from Twain's prodigious interviews, diaries and letters . . . Mr. Chernow, whose lives of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Ulysses S. Grant are revered for their sound scholarship, clear writing and strong narrative drive, weaves Twain's sizzling remarks almost seamlessly into his own narrative . . . Other biographers have recorded Twain's lecturing career, but nobody until now has pictured the full extent of the author's never-ending tour, which took him to nearly every corner of world." --Jay Parini, The Wall Street Journal

"Mark Twain is a masterful exploration of the magnificent highs and unutterable lows of an American literary genius. Twain himself once said that 'Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of a man--the biography of the man himself cannot be written.' But this one feels like the truth of one man's star-crossed life." --Mary Ann Gwinn, Los Angeles Times

"Chernow writes with such ease and clarity . . . For all its length and detail, [Mark Twain] is deeply absorbing throughout." --Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

"Chernow's voluminous biography presents Twain with all his complications and flaws -- disastrous financial decisions, his evolving views on race -- in this account both of the man and of a nation torn apart by war and stitched painfully back together, all of it brightened by Twain's signature humor and wisdom." --New York Times Book Review

"A rollicking and comprehensive portrait of Samuel Clemens, otherwise known as Mark Twain, the humorist and orator who turned a frontiersman's wit into an American legacy." --Erin Vanderhoof, Vanity Fair

"Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow returns with a definitive portrait of another American icon." --Time

"Chernow's biography avoids the trap of idolizing Twain and gives an honest assessment of the author's life, including his flaws and contradictions . . . Chernow's willingness to give readers the unvarnished truth about Twain makes the biography stand out, as does his ability to simultaneously explore the historical and literary context of Twain's writing . . . The recurring theme of Chernow's biography is Twain's love affair with the written word, and it ably demonstrates the impact that relationship had on a nation." --Associated Press

"It's a monstrous good time for a body to take an interest in Twain. In recent years, the humorist has seen his life and books reinterpreted by a literary darling, a graphic novel, a work of scholarship--even by himself, in an autobiography that waited a century for publication. Now, one of our most celebrated biographers is taking his own swing at a life so full, lively and multifarious--dare I say--picaresque, it would not have been out of place in one of Twain's own novels." --NPR.org

"Ron Chernow's exceptional biography, Mark Twain, devours the life's work of the perfect American writer and lays bare the unfortunate reality of an imperfect American life. The renowned author of award-winning books on George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and J.P. Morgan's financial empire has never tackled a subject quite like this. Clearly a massive undertaking by Chernow, the result is an exquisitely written, deeply researched volume about an intriguing, complex, contradictory, intelligent, and often exaggerated literary stylist . . . A literary triumph." --Washington Examiner

"Ron Chernow draws on an Everest of archival material . . . [Chernow] deserves considerable credit for taking on Twain and his evolving views of race, especially now, as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been banned in hundreds of secondary schools." --Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Ron Chernow's recent biography Mark Twain clocks in at 1,200 pages, but upon completion, the reader may wish for more. Twain's was an extraordinary life, both more luminescent and darker than most of us have known." --Word on Fire

"Reviewers tend to call [Chernow's] books 'magisterial' because they are. With Twain, Chernow set his sights on, in his words, 'the biggest literary personality that America has produced, ' with one of the most eventful, hurly-burly lives of any American author . . . Chernow tags along from Hannibal to Hartford to Hawaii to the Holy Land and beyond, with Twain pinballing from side hustle to side hustle (as a public speaker, publisher, and inept investor, among others) and burning through friendships and business partnerships . . . [Twain's] very achievement lay in amalgamating a nation's perplexities--its virtues and sins, aspirations and derelictions, comedy and tragedy--into not just books, but a life." --Garden & Gun

"[A] stellar biography . . . The man lives on in the pages of Mark Twain, his contradictions intact, and Chernow brings him to life with empathy but not indulgence. It's the book Twain deserves and also the book deserved by both his fans and his detractors." --Washington Independent Review of Books

"An admirably animated, readable account of one of the modern world's first celebrities. Somewhere deep inside it, almost hidden, glows the energy and humor of Twain's very American prose." --John Mullan, The Guardian

"Comprehensive, enthralling . . . Mark Twain flows like the Mississippi River, its prose propelled by Mark Twain's own exuberance." --The Boston Globe

"[A] massive but highly readable new biography . . . Chernow does tell us about the later experiences that profoundly changed how Twain thought about something he had taken for granted as a child--slavery . . . A haunting and memorable portrait." --The Nation

"Twain was skeptical of biographies, saying they captured only 'the clothes and buttons of a man' rather than the man himself. But he would be hard-pressed to make that case against Chernow. More than simply a book about America's seminal writer, this is a long and winding story about the quintessential American--clothes and buttons, mind and heart, warts and all." --Minnesota Star Tribune

"At its best, Mark Twain emerges in this biography as much a live wire as ever: brash, outspoken, and overflowing with exasperating contradictions . . . a magnificent doorstopper of an opus." --The Arts Fuse

"[Chernow] is especially good as a popular historian, placing his subjects within a sweeping canvas of their times. That sensibility also informs Mark Twain . . . In true Chernow fashion, this is a book about not only Twain, but also the modern celebrity culture that nurtured his career--and that he helped in large part to create." --The Christian Science Monitor

"Before Chernow became the biographer of the American heroes hiding in our wallet--Ulysses S. Grant, George Washington, and most famously Alexander Hamilton--he was a chronicler of Morgans, Warburgs and Rockefellers . . . Enlightening and entertaining . . . Here, after covering Twain's greatness, he has boldly written a book about the limitations of our body and mind, the traps of our reputation, the death of those we love and the embarrassing yearning for youth." --Bloomberg

"Chernow has produced a literary biography of the first rank . . . Chernow writes expressively but clearly . . . The heartiest compliment I can pay to Chernow is that at no point did I wish, as I first suspected I might, that I was reading a book by Twain instead of one about him." --The American Conservative

"Mark Twain by Ron Chernow is a dominating biography of an American icon . . . Ron Chernow's Sam Clemens is human, all too human, and this is, to some degree, a measure of this biography's excellence. Chernow's Twain seems so real in his flaws that the caveat against meeting your heroes holds. This does nothing to undermine the brilliance of the artist . . . Ron Chernow, in this excellent and very human biography, challenges readers to meet an American original as he has emerged from deep research and lucid exposition." --Redding Sentinel

"[A] charming, sympathetic yet judicious biography . . . Chernow's gift for fluency, rivalling Twain's, unstrenuously carries you along, parading before us the many lives of Mark Twain . . . Indeed, this is a model biography, one of the finest of recent years, giving equal billing to interiority and the social scene." --The Times (UK)

"Splendid . . . Chernow's biography is an enthralling, even moving book. If the essence of most of Twain's best writing is to remind readers of the dignity of our voyage on the river of life, despite all the indignities, heartbreaks and shipwrecks along the way, Chernow's book chronicles the twists and turns of Twain's own voyage with elan . . . It is more the man than the artist that interests Chernow, but he often succeeds in showing how the complex, contradictory, suffering man influenced the artist. For anyone interested in Twain or in the America he anatomized so inimitably, this is a book to relish and prize." --Literary Review (UK)

"[Mark Twain] is an absolute delight to read, written with flair (no surprise there) and keen psychological insight about a surprisingly complicated man." --Air Mail

"A thorough biography of the great American writer . . . Chernow's somewhat informal prose lends itself to the "non-fiction novel" (as Truman Capote called such work) . . . It does not serve as a testament but rather as a story where, even if readers know the ending, they look forward to the next chapter. Twain lived an extraordinary life of adventure around the world, and the reader shares it at his side." --New York Journal of Books

"Chernow has given us as complete a picture [of Mark Twain] as may be possible . . . a compelling narrative written in graceful prose that seamlessly includes the distinctive voice of America's most identifiable writer . . . Chernow's Mark Twain earns its place alongside earlier well-respected biographies. I warmly recommend it to the community of Mark Twain scholars."--Lawrence Howe, Mark Twain Annual

"[Ron Chernow] may be the best biographer living today. . . . Chernow comes as close as any might hope to painting a portrait of Twain that will remain in place for years to come." --Kevin Mac Donnell, Mark Twain Forum

"Bestseller Chernow (Grant) again proves himself among his generation's finest biographers with this magisterial account of the life of Mark Twain . . . Chernow's razor-sharp portrait offers nuanced explorations of Twain's many contradictions . . . Amply justifying the considerable page count, this stands as the new definitive biography of the revered author." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Remarkable . . . Chernow is an exceptional portraitist, adding depth and shadow to bring his subject fully to life. The impeccable research blends seamlessly into a narrative that examines Twain in all his guises: devoted family man, writer, publisher, entrepreneur, and inventor. Like his subject, Chernow has a keen ear for the perfect quote, insult, and witty rejoinder. This monumental achievement will stand as the definitive life of Mark Twain." --Booklist (starred review)

"Chernow once again demonstrates his impeccably deep research, highlighting Twain's better qualities without ignoring the issues he grappled with in his life . . . This belongs in both public and academic libraries and will open a new discussion of Twain's cultural standing, as Chernow's previous biographies have also accomplished." --Library Journal (starred review)

"Essential reading for any Twain buff and student of American literature." --Kirkus (starred review)

"Chernow has brought us as close to Twain as we are likely to get, and this nuanced portrait of an often conflicted man is a triumph." --BookPage

About the Author

Ron Chernow is the prizewinning author of seven previous books and the recipient of the 2015 National Humanities Medal. His first book, The House of Morgan, won the National Book Award, Washington: A Life won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, and Alexander Hamilton--the inspiration for the Broadway musical--won the George Washington Book Prize. He has twice been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and is one of only three living biographers to have won the Gold Medal for Biography of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. A past president of PEN America, Chernow has been the recipient of nine honorary doctorates.