The following book review was written for the Mark Twain Forum by Martin
Zehr.
~~~~~

_Mark Twain: His Dangerous Mind, Remarkable Life and Enduring Legacy_.
Kelly Knauer, ed. Time Home Entertainment, Inc., 2015.  96 pp. Paperback.
8"x 10 7/8" $13.99.

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Reviewed for the Mark Twain Forum by:
Martin Zehr

 Copyright (c) 2015 Mark Twain Forum. This review may not be published or
redistributed in any medium without permission.


Imagine my surprise when, while wasting time in a local Barnes & Noble
outlet, I spotted a familiar face staring at me from a magazine rack,
beckoning me, I assume, to risk a look.  The portrait on the cover was
familiar, an illustration by Michael Deas which previously adorned the
cover of the July 14, 2008 issue of _Time_ magazine. Michael Deas is a
nationally-known illustrator who works out of his New Orleans studio and
whose work includes six _Time_ magazine covers and twenty-one stamps for
the U.S. Postal Service, the latter including iconic portraits of James
Dean and Marilyn Monroe.  The contents underscored my conclusion that this
special issue, which includes two pieces previously published by _Time_
magazine in 2008, is nonetheless a new and worthwhile addition to any Mark
Twain-related library.


This special issue appears to be intended as a broad, general overview of
Mark Twain, his life, his work, and his continuing influence and, while its
attraction for the beginning serious student of Twain cannot be doubted,
there is not a condescending note in its pages.  Anyone who reads, studies
or teaches Twain, at any level, would be well-advised to keep a copy handy
for reference and entertainment purposes.


Twenty-two sections comprise this issue, beginning with an introduction
written by Roy Blount Jr. which is a modified version of his essay that
appeared in the 2008 _Time_ issue. Blount provides a broad contextual
history and a cogent, convincing invitation to anyone who asks, "What does
he [Twain] have to do with the issues of our day?"  Blount's introduction
is accompanied by a timeline in which the major milestones of Twain's life
are juxtaposed with significant contemporaneous events in U.S. and world
history.


None of the discussions in each section are explored in any great depth,
but any newcomer in the world of Twain studies, and even a few veterans,
will be entertained by the wide variety of subjects that mimic the vast
confines of this extraordinary life. Some of the topics are predictable and
vital, e.g., discussions of Twain and race; his Hannibal upbringing; and
selections from his store of one-liners. Two sections are devoted to Sam's
first travels outside of Hannibal, beginning in 1853, and his subsequent
adventures as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi.  Sections with familiar
topics also include Twain's apprenticeship in the American West and his
initial successes as a writer and platform speaker. Others topics will be
less familiar to the general reader, including discussions of the writers
and humorists like Artemus Ward who influenced Twain; his home and family
life in Hartford; and the years of self-imposed exile beginning in 1891.


Sections with a more contemporary focus include reviews, by Richard Lacayo,
of the two volumes of Twain's _Autobiography_ published by the University
of California Press in conjunction with the Mark Twain Project since 2010.
Lacayo, a writer and critic for _Time_, provides a well-informed overview
of the contents of each volume and the history and method of Twain's unique
approach to setting down his reminiscences and random observations. The
concluding section, titled "Disciples and Fellow Travelers," is one of the
more interesting pieces, tracing Twain's enduring influence to other
prominent writers and entertainers.  Profiles of Dorothy Parker, Kurt
Vonnegut, Will Rogers, Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Chris Rock, and Stephen
Colbert, among others, leave no doubt regarding the vitality and
persistence of Twain's influence, a cogent response to the question posed
by Roy Blount Jr. in his introduction.


The number (113) and quality of the photographs and illustrations is such
that they would justify the purchase of this modest volume absent any
text.  Many of the photos will be familiar to Twain scholars, including the
first and last-known photo-portraits of Twain made during his lifetime, but
viewing them in the pages of a single volume is an uncommon opportunity,
adding an appealing contextual dimension not conveyed by unaccompanied
text.  The beautiful color photographs of the interior of the Clemens
family Hartford house, for example, convey opulence as well as any chapters
from _The Gilded Age_. Two photographic omissions are, however, worthy of
mention.  There are no photos of Sam Clemens's boyhood home in Hannibal,
Missouri, nor are there any photos of Quarry Farm, the resplendent home
overlooking the Chemung Valley in Elmira, New York, where Twain and his
family vacationed for many summers and the bulk of the writing for many of
his major works, including _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, was
accomplished. The geographic depiction of Twain's travels in his five
best-known travelogues, reprinted from the 2008 issue of _Time_, is useful
for scholars and readers alike.  Steamboat illustrations and photos,
including one of the _John J. Roe_, on which Clemens served as a pilot, and
a large-format photo of a stagecoach on the street in 1866 Virginia City,
are bound to impress the general reader and reinforce the scholar's
familiarity with the experiential underpinnings of Twain's work.  No major
attribution errors are noted by this reviewer in the captions, and a
complete listing of the photo credits is provided on the last page.


In a wide-ranging volume like this, there are bound to be a few hiccups,
but these are few and trivial, e.g., a typo (?) in a reference to
_Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ in which Twain "described the novel in
1895, 19 (sic) years after it was published..." In one photo caption, Twain
is described as "in the last decade of his life, when his temperament
turned bitter...(84)," a conclusion which has been cogently brought into
question by the research of Michael Shelden in his 2010 book, _Mark Twain:
Man in White, The Grand Adventure of His Final Years_.  The _Time_ caption,
of course, is not an error, but a disputable and commonly-held opinion, a
quibble in the context of this well-produced volume.


_Time_ has done a more than creditable job in its choice of topics,
research and production, with much of the credit due to the assistance of
the usual suspects, the directors and staff of the Mark Twain Project in
Berkeley, the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, and the Mark
Twain House in Hartford.  Kelly Knauer is listed as the "Editor/Writer" for
this special issue and Tresa McBee is credited as its "Researcher."  There
are two "Special Thanks" sections in the credits, one including
twenty-seven names of individuals employed by Time Home Entertainment, and
the second, with specific mention of people familiar to Mark Twain
scholars: Bob Hirst, Sharon Goetz, Vic Fischer, Mallory Howard, Steve
Courtney and Henry Sweets.


Introductory volumes on the life and work of Mark Twain are hardly scarce
commodities, and being distinctive in this particular universe is nothing
less than an unlikely prospect, but _Time, Inc_. has succeeded in producing
a Twain primer that leaves no doubt regarding his legacy and relevance.
Like the 2001 Ken Burns film production of the _Mark Twain_ documentary
released on PBS in 2002, this _Time_ special issue will appeal to a wide
audience.  The best recommendation I can make for this volume is for the
Twainiac who reads these reviews and has friends who are mystified by the
obsession with a dead "humorist."  If such friends can browse the _Time_
special issue and remain unimpressed with the life and work of its subject,
my advice is to let them buy their own beer.


These special issues are usually available at most magazine racks and book
stores.  Both the Mark Twain House in Hartford and the Boyhood Home in
Hannibal plan to make them available for purchase via their website.