On the  100th anniversary of the publication of THE GILDED AGE, A TALE OF TODAY, Pulitzer prize winning political historian Garry  Wills wrote an Op Ed in the New York Times tiled "Mark Twain has been gone 100 years but his political wisdom endures." Wills wrote that as a history lesson, it is "our best political novel," which "grows with every reading."  For the past five years I have been teaching an adult education class on Mark Twain and politics at American University in Washington DC, showing parallels from the Gilded Age (which truly is a Tale of Today) and Twain's other writings to our current political  dysfunction, which preceded the current administration and may have contributed to Trump's election. My classes have included  former Watergate prosecutors, law school deans and other members of the Washington establishment. I use as a text my book, which is a play on the Gilded Age: "Mark Twain's Tale of Today, the Celebrated Author Critiques American Politics."  It is available for free on Amazon Kindle Unlimited. https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Twains-Tale-Today-Returns-ebook/dp/B00A25OX2O/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=donald+tiffANY+BLISS&qid=1582036733&sr=8-1

Don Bliss

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Martha Sherwood
Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2020 12:32 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [External] "The Day Democracy Died" Sung by The Founding Fathers

[EXTERNAL MESSAGE]

Reading the Gilded Age without commentary or abridgement and with the idea that the shade of Mark Twain put it in your hands because it is very timely isn't a bad substitute. Here is a link to an essay I wrote starting with ideas in The Gilded Age and using it as a basis for political commentary on my own community of Eugene, Oregon. I read the book in its entirety, in a 19th century edition, in a Mark Twain seminar. It was not assigned for the class, and secondary sources IMHO misrepresent it.
https://lifeasahuman.com/2019/current-affairs/money-and-economy/the-gilded-age-and-the-mylar-age/

Martha Sherwood

On Fri, Feb 14, 2020 at 11:10 AM John R. Pascal <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Indeed.
>
> If Mark Twain were to rewrite The Gilded Age for our time, there would 
> be several Amazon trucks filled with barrels of fountain pen ink 
> delivered to
> 351 Farmington Avenue . . .  each and every week.
>
> Also, a pack of experienced bloodhounds wouldn’t be able to find his 
> lost temper at the state of our country and the world.
>
> John Pascal
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Feb 14, 2020, at 1:19 PM, L Oggel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > Oh, my YES. Barbara is sooo right. Thanks.
> >
> > Terry
> >
> >> On Fri, Feb 14, 2020 at 11:50 AM Ladd, Barbara <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >>
> >> I don't know what Twain might say to this, but it would be great if 
> >> only he were alive to rewrite The Gilded Age for OUR age.
> >>
> >> Barbara Ladd
> >> ________________________________
> >> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of John's Email 
> >> < [log in to unmask]>
> >> Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2020 7:01 PM
> >> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> >> Subject: [External] "The Day Democracy Died" Sung by The Founding
> Fathers
> >>
> >> Just wondering....
> >> do you think Sam would’ve promoted/endorsed/approved of... this???
> >>
> >> https://youtu.be/-Ue5F57dZMU
> >>
> >>
> >> John Greenman
> >>
> >> ________________________________
> >>
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>