Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies The Trouble Begins at Eight, Spring 2006 Series New this season... If you are unable to attend our series, consider listening online. Within a week of each lecture, go to http://www.elmira.edu/twain <BLOCKED::http://www.elmira.edu/twain> . Click on The Trouble Begins at Eight. Click on the appropriate audio file. Live audio recordings will be available (with individual speakers' permission.) Wednesday, May 10th, 2006, in the Barn at Quarry Farm, 8 p.m. Mark Twain and the American Media Revolution Bruce Michelson, Professor of American Literature, University of Illinois Sam Clemens began his professional life as a "printer's devil," an apprentice in a Hannibal shop -- and throughout his life he kept up a keen interest in every phase of printing and publishing. Living through the most dramatic changes in those media since the time of the Gutenbergs, he tried to be a leader and a tycoon in these new industries. In his prime years as an author, he involved himself in the entire process of making a book. How did these interests affect the way that Mark Twain wrote? What did he see as the possibilities of a printed book -- as a multimedia experience, a national or global sensation, and a cultural force? Amid a storm of printed words and pictures, how do his hopes and fears about this media revolution turn up as important themes in his most memorable books? Doors open at 7:30. The Trouble Begins at Eight. Wednesday, May 17th, 2006, in the Barn at Quarry Farm, 8 p.m. Joe Twichell's War: How Mark Twain's Good Friend and Confidant Handled Three Tough Years in the Army of the Potomac Steve Courtney, Independent Scholar, Hartford, CT Mark Twain was entranced by his Hartford friend Joe Twichell's stories of his experiences in the Civil War, where the minister-to-be was chaplain to a rough New York City regiment, and the author was quite happy to steal the stories. Steve Courtney, who with Peter Messent has edited the just-published Civil War Letters of Joseph Hopkins Twichell: A Chaplain's Story, will speak on Twichell's war-time experiences and their uses in Mark Twain's work. Mr. Courtney will read excerpts from the letters, which include vivid and eloquent descriptions of battles and their aftermath; hospital scenes; the politics of the era; first-hand accounts of Lincoln; and other moving depictions. Copies of Civil War Letters of Joseph Hopkins Twichell: A Chaplain's Story will be available for purchase and signing in the Barn. Doors open at 7:30. The Trouble Begins at Eight. Wednesday, May 24th, 2006, in the Barn at Quarry Farm, 8 p.m. "That Grotesque and Laughable Word, Patriotism": Rethinking Mark Twain on Patriotism David Caplan, Associate Professor, Ohio Wesleyan University In a bitter diary entry near the end of his life, Mark Twain denounced "patriotism" as "that grotesque and laughable word. The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism," he thundered, "is moral cowardice and always has been." This denunciation reflected Twain's growing estrangement from politics following his wife's death, a time he saw as both a personal and national fall. America, Twain believed, had "thrown away" its "most valuable asset": the possibility for individual assent. Accordingly, Twain grew increasingly suspicious of patriotism, seeing the concept as militaristic and violent. Join David Caplan as he reexamines the limitations that such skepticism places on contemporary debates and suggests, instead, an alternative model of patriotism. Light refreshments will be available preceding this closing lecture. Doors open at 7:30. The Trouble Begins at Eight. For more information, write [log in to unmask] <BLOCKED::mailto:[log in to unmask]> or phone (607) 735-1941.