Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Mark Twain's works are some of the best I've ever read. I love the way he brings you
into the story, especially with the dialogue used, like in Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn. Mark
Twain is my favorite dead author.
Mark Twain was never "Mark Twain" at all. That was only his pen name. His real name
was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Samuel was born in Florida, Missouri in 1835. He
accomplished worldwide fame during his lifetime for being a great author, lecturer, satirist, and
humorist. Since his death on April 21, 1910, his great literary reputation has further increased.
Many writers such as Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner have declared his work-especially
Huckleberry Finn- a major influence on 20th-century American fiction.
Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, a town on the Mississippi river. After the death
of his father in 1847, Twain joined his brother Orion's newspaper, the Hannibal Journal. During
this time he became accustomed with much of the frontier humor of the time.
From 1853 to 1857, Twain worked in many cities as a printer, and wrote articles for his
brother's newspapers under various nicknames. After a visit to New Orleans, he learned how to
pilot a steamboat. That became his job until the Civil War closed the Mississippi River, and
it set him up for "Old Times on the Mississippi" and "Life on the Mississippi."
In 1861, Twain traveled to Carson City, Nevada, with his brother Orion. After attempts
for silver and gold mining had failed, he continued to write for newspapers. It was in 1863 when
Samuel Clemens adopted the name "Mark Twain", a riverman's term for "two fathoms" deep.
In 1884 Twain went to San Francisco and reached national fame with his story, "The
Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." He then took a trip to Hawaii which started him
on a very successful career as a public speaker. His trips to the Mediterranean and the Holy Land
were recorded in letters to a San Francisco newspaper, and later formed into The Innocents
Abroad, which was popular all over the world.
In 1870 Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon. He then abandoned journalism to focus on
serious literature. From 1870-1875, Twain produced many novels, including the famous tale,
Tom Sawyer.
A European vacation in 1878-1879, inspired novels like The Prince and the Pauper and A
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Meanwhile, he established his own firm, Charles L.
Webster and Co., and after that, completed his masterpiece, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, in
1884.
In 1891, Twain was forced to move to Europe because of financial problems. In 1894,
because of the failure of his firm and other reasons, he had to declare bankruptcy. During this
time he produced many works, but they were not some of his best. To help his situation, he
commenced a world lecture tour.
Even though his financial situation rapidly improved, much stress and sorrow came to
Twain following the death of first his daughter, in 1896, then his wife in 1904. His writings in the
late 1890's and 1900's became increasingly gloomy. One of his accomplishments during these
years is "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg", a pessimisstic examination of human nature.
After these bleak years Twain died in 1910. Yet his reputation as a writer did not die
along with him. Instead it rose as people began to look at his works differently. Mark Twain has
become an embedded part of America's history.