I am posting the following book review on behalf of Dave Thomson who wrote
it.

-Barb

~~~~~

BOOK REVIEW

Burns, Ken, Dayton Duncan and Geoffrey C. Ward. _Mark Twain, An Illustrated
Biography_. Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.  Pp. 270, 275 illustrations.  Hardcover,
$40.00.  ISBN 0-375-40561-5.

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Reviewed for the Mark Twain Forum by:

David Thomson
<[log in to unmask]>

Copyright (c) 2001 Mark Twain Forum.  This review may not be published or
redistributed in any medium without permission.

Upon receiving my review copy of _Mark Twain, An Illustrated Biography_ I
was surprised that it was such a slim volume, only about three quarters of
an inch thick. After reading Jim Zwick's interview earlier this month with
Dayton Duncan, one of the book's co-writers and co-producer of the upcoming
companion four-hour documentary (scheduled to air January 14 and 15, 2002),
I understood why this was not a thicker volume. The original film ran over
six hours. However, none of the other Ken Burns biographical documentaries
had exceeded four hours and they decided this one should be edited down to
the prescribed length. It does seem a shame that the film was abbreviated
but the producers certainly won't outstay their welcome this way. They're
leaving us begging for more.

Ashbel Green is credited as the editor of the text which was apparently
expanded considerably from the narrative of the film and suggests that the
book was indeed based, at least in part, on the longer version of the film.
Reports from those who have seen the film in its entirety noted the absence
or neglect of events and personalities such as Joseph Twichell, Bret Harte,
William Dean Howells, and others who seem to be given more attention in the
book.

Book designer Wendy Byrne worked with a wealth of marvelous images. Of the
275 illustrations, about 180 of them are photographs coming from the files
of the Mark Twain Papers at Berkeley (including the Isabel Lyon and Jean
Clemens photo collections), Mark Twain House at Hartford, Mark Twain Museum
at Hannibal, and private collections such as those of Nick Karanovich and
Robert Slotta. Some of these photos I've never seen reproduced elsewhere;
other have been, but never with such fidelity and clarity. They are truly
worth the price of admission. Among the standouts are:

An early 1850's portrait of Sam Clemens, the journeyman printer, is vividly
alive and his eyes were seldom so well illuminated and his expression is
still powerful a century and a half later (p. 14).

The 1858 portrait of Clemens as a steamboat pilot with mutton chop whiskers
is finally seen as a photograph rather than a graphic derivation (p. 26).

The 1864 portrait of Clemens standing between two cohorts in Nevada depicts
his mustache in an early stage of development and his wardrobe
picturesquely careless (p. 35).

The 1867 group portrait aboard the Quaker City shows a glimpse of Clemens
hunkered down amidst the Innocents Abroad pilgrims (p. 62).

In 1895 Clemens' round the world lecture tour yielded some marvelous candid
photographs taken in such places as Great Falls, Montana; Seattle,
Washington; and Olympia, Washington where Clemens is captured breakfasting
informally in his hotel room (pp. 160-166).

In 1904 Clemens returned to America aboard the Prince Oscar following the
death of Livy in Florence, Italy. Clemens is captured in a rare photo
aboard ship as he sits with his daughter Clara who is heavily veiled in
mourning with sleeping cats stretched out in her lap (p. 219).

Four marvelous candid shots from 1908 show Clemens playing with his
favorite cat Tammany and her kittens at Stormfield (pp. 210-211).

Two 1908 color photos by Alvin Langdon Coburn are reproduced as mirror
images of the originals, by accident or perhaps for the sake of page
layout. Clemens in his Oxford robes (p. 241) has appeared correctly in a
catalogue for a 1979 National Portrait Gallery show called "People in
Camera." A brilliant color photo of Clemens in his crimson bed robe with
pipe and book was reproduced correctly as the frontispiece for Archibald
Henderson's _Mark Twain_, (Duckworth & Co., 1911).

Among all the illustrations contemporary to Clemens' lifetime only seven
stood out as anachronisms:  five illustrations by Norman Rockwell for the
1936 Heritage press editions of Tom and Huck--three from _Tom Sawyer__and
two from _Huckleberry Finn_. Two additional bits of whimsy appearing in the
index pages include a 1913 advertisement for Cream of Wheat featuring Tom,
Huck and Aunt Polly and a 1959 Polish movie poster for David O. Selznick's
_The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_.

The prologue providing the springboard for the narrative unfolds during
Clemens' 1902 visit to his boyhood home in Hannibal, Missouri where, thanks
to reporter Robertus Love, we know details of that final visit and the
waves of aching nostalgia that washed over the celebrated Mark Twain at the
scenes of his youth.

Through thirteen subsequent chapters Sammy Clemens evolves into Mark Twain
and not surprisingly some of the chapters choose book titles to encompass
their contents: _Life on the Mississippi_, _Roughing It_, _The Innocents
Abroad_, _The Gilded Age_, _A Connecticut Yankee_ and _Following the
Equator_.

Four essays by Mark Twain scholars are distributed throughout the chapters:

Chapter One "A Boy's Paradise" (Sam's childhood in Missouri) includes
"Hannibal's Sam Clemens" by Hannibal native Ron Powers in which he distills
the essence of his book _Dangerous Waters: A Biography of the Boy who
Became Mark Twain_ (Basic Books. 1999).

Chapter Five "The Best Girl in All the World" (Clemens' Courtship and
marriage to Olivia Langdon) includes "Hartford's Mark Twain" which is
elucidated by John Boyer.

_Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ is examined in two essays "The Six-Letter
Word" by Jocelyn Chadwick, contained in Chapter Seven and "Out at the
Edges" in Chapter Twelve by Russell Banks. Both delve into the issue of
race and the enduring power of the novel.

Chapter Seven titled "Truth" is about the writing and publication of
_Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, the importance of which Dayton Duncan
emphasized in his recent interview with Jim Zwick: "...we probably wouldn't
have done this film if Twain hadn't written _Huckleberry Finn_...it's that
book that secured his place in American literature."

The book finds its emotional center in the powerful story of Sam and Livy's
relationship and the joys and sorrows of the couple and their daughters
Susy, Clara and Jean. The sheer weight of the pathos of that real-life
human drama gives it an emphasis that manages to eclipse even the history
of Clemens' literary career in importance.

Scattered throughout the book are seventeen extended excerpts from Clemens'
writings including "white town drowsing" and "the profession of piloting"
from _Life on the Mississippi_. Other vignettes include the petrified man
hoax, San Francisco earthquakes, Clemens' letter to his daughters as Santa
Claus, quotations from the diaries of Adam and Eve, "The War Prayer" and
part of Mark Twain's 70th birthday speech. There are also a series of
"sidebars" or "asides" along the way addressing subjects such as Clemens'
fascination with inventions, the treatment of the Negro in America, his
love of cats and even a disclaimer "Mark Twain Didn't Say" which lists
sayings attributed to him which are unverifiable.

An interview with Hal Holbrook delineates the differences between the
actual platform style of Mark Twain and Holbrook's variations on that
original format.  Clemens dressed in black, Holbrook in white. Clemens did
not smoke on stage during his career, Holbrook puffs up clouds of cigar
smoke during his performance. Holbrook points out that the public image of
the rather lazy, drawling "Mark Twain" concealed an extremely energetic man
who admitted that "I was born excited (p. 182)." Holbrook also recognized
that Clemens was "a soul seeking the truth...that's a lonely journey."
Holbrook described his connection with Clemens: "It's like somebody
reaching his hand out to you in comradeship, almost."

The style of the book, for the greater part, is to allow Clemens to tell
his own story via his own words found in his books, personal letters and
journals. As Dayton Duncan commented about the companion film, "Twain's
voice nearly always prevailed." The same holds true for the book. The one
disappointment for Twain scholars may be the lack of reference notes
indicating sources of texts and quotes used for many passages.

_Mark Twain, An Illustrated Biography_ is certainly the most handsomely
produced pictorial treatment thus far given to Samuel Clemens and should
not only please veteran aficionados as a feast for the eyes, but also bring
a whole new flock of converts into the fold and intrigue them to dive into
his writings as well as other specialized biographical studies which expand
on topics that are introduced here.