Dangerous Water: A Biography Of The Boy Who Became Mark Twain - Hardcover

Powers, Ron

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 046507670X ISBN 13: 9780465076703

Publisher: Basic Books, 1999

Synopsis

Twain was a distinctly American writer. From age ten when he boarded his first Mississippi steamer to his first encounter with a traveling mesmerizer” (from which Twain gained a penchant for acting and a flair for spectacle); from the brooding sense of guilt and fear of eternal damnation inculcated into him at church to the superstitions and stories of witchcraft he learned from the Blacks on his farm, Twain was shaped by the people of Hannibal, Missouri and by a distinctly American culture.Interwoven between Twain's childhood experiences are various themes of nature expressed in beautifully written passages that evoke scenes like those of the Mississippi River as it flows through Hannibal and of the mysterious, foreboding cave in which Twain used to play.During his childhood, Mark Twain learned to negotiate the dangerous waters” of experience and turn trials into humorous stories that shaped the American literary tradition.

About this title

About the Author

RON POWERS is a journalist, novelist, and nonfiction writer. The author of eight books, he has been a columnist for The Chicago Sun Times and GQ magazine, and has been widely published in magazines such as The New York Times Book Review and Conde Nast Traveler.

From Kirkus Reviews

An eloquent portrait of the American Renaissances greatest writer as a young man. Powers is the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of eight books. His expertise in popular culture, mass media, history, and the American small town is in evidence here as in Far from Home: Life and Loss in Two American Towns (1991). Powers, who also grew up in Hannibal, Mo., sees Mark Twain as Americas first popular, media-fed superstar who knew how to dress for the photo op. Powers exposes Clemenss mirth for the flip side of the mans many tragedies. ``Sammy'' was a premature baby and sickly toddler who grew up into the barefoot boy who showed off for the girl wed know as Becky Thatcher. Far from a protected and fanciful Tom Sawyer, Clemens, as a three-year-old sleepwalker, tugged at his sisters blanket a few days before she died. She was one of several siblings Sam would lose. Unsuccessful but not evil like Huck Finns papy, Samuels father was relatively bland, passing on only his tendency toward bad debts and investments. Powers shows that young Sam was fascinated by the spoken word (whether of preachers or slaves) and by books, from the Bible (despite his famous heresy) to Cooper, because his reality was so painful. The biographer notes an inner conflict that is the key to Clemenss appeal: ``the Connecticut literary gent contending with the western roughneck.'' After adolescence, itching to light out for the territories, young Clemens ``made the break from his landlocked life'' and talked himself to the captains wheel on riverboats. Powers feels the Mark Twain pseudonym helped free Clemens to become the ages most celebrated humorist, traveler, lecturer and novelist. There are 20 pages of chapter notes, but this biography is too good to be confused with literary criticism. Powers calls out ``mark twain'' and leads us on Samuel Clemenss dangerous, poignant, and delightful voyage against the current. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 046507670X
• ISBN 13: 9780465076703
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 328