Thank you for your review. Anything in there about Mark Twain's abbreviated stint as a Washington Correspondent from late Nov. 1867 - March 1868? On Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 3:42 AM, Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > BOOK REVIEW > > > _The Life of Mark Twain: The Early Years, 1835-1871_. By Gary Scharnhorst. > University of Missouri Press, 2018. Pp. 686. Hardcover. ISBN > 978-0-8262-2144-5. $36.95. > > > Many books reviewed on the Forum are available at discounted prices from > the TwainWeb Bookstore, and purchases from this site generate commissions > that benefit the Mark Twain Project. Please visit <http://www.twainweb.net > >. > > > Reviewed for the Mark Twain Forum by > Barbara Schmidt > > > Copyright (c) 2018 Mark Twain Forum. This review may not be published or > redistributed in any medium without permission. > > > _The Life of Mark Twain: The Early Years, 1835-1871_ is the first volume in > a planned 3-volume edition from Gary Scharnhorst, university professor, > editor, and noted Mark Twain scholar. It is a well-written and > well-documented attempt to untangle the facts from the myths and legends > that surround the early life of Samuel Clemens. Much of the information > that has been published about Clemens's early life originated with Clemens > himself who embellished, embroidered, and misremembered facts in his own > writings and autobiography. His hand-picked biographer Albert Bigelow > Paine, who lived nearby him during his last years and assumed the role of a > surrogate son, exercised a rigid determination to please the Clemens family > and protect their reputation. Paine's 1912 biography has been rightly > criticized for being less than objective. > > > Scharnhorst supports his arguments for a new multi-volume biography of > Clemens with unflinching disdain for Paine. He refers to Paine as "a young > sycophant without a pedigree" (xviii), a man who had a "lack of > professional training" (xxiii), and a "hagiographer" (439). Scharnhorst > judges Paine using twenty-first century standards. It is a common attitude > displayed by many of today's scholars who overlook nineteenth century > realities. Such treatment of Paine was recently discussed by Mary Eden in > her excellent article in the _Mark Twain Journal_ (Spring 2018). > > > Scharnhorst states his goal is to provide a multi-volume biography of > Clemens from his personal and "single point of view on an expansive canvas" > (xxvi). While some scholars such as Greg Camfield have suggested that > specialized, tightly focused, single-volume biographies are the best way to > capture the complexity of Clemens's life, Scharnhorst disagrees and feels > such coverage only leads to "wildly different conclusions." He compares the > wide array of current biographies written by a multitude of scholars to > constructing a "grotesque Cadillac from spare parts from different models" > (xxvi). However, Scharnhorst makes clear in his preface that readers should > expect "no bombshells" or "dark secrets" in this first volume. He is > correct--the material should be familiar ground to many scholars. > > > Scharnhorst's preface also makes clear that his point of view is contrary > to those of many scholars today--such as Shelley Fisher Fishkin who feels > that Clemens and his works are still relevant and that he is "more a > creature of our time than of his" (xxvii). Scharnhorst disdains the Mark > Twain impersonators in white linen suits and fright wigs who mimic "a > middle-aged bankrupt" and he has no love to share for "coffee-table > compilations of his maxims" (xxviii). Scharnhorst's approach prompted one > early reader of an advance reading copy of the book to comment, "As I read > parts of his book I could not shake the feeling that GS doesn't like > Twain." > > > Examining Clemens's life up to 1871, the book's eighteen chapters cover his > ancestry, childhood, journeyman printing work, steamboat piloting, the > Civil War experiences, life in Nevada and California, Sandwich Islands > trip, Holy Land excursion, platform lecturing, his courtship and marriage, > and newspaper work in Buffalo, New York. Among Scharnhorst's strengths are > his flair for providing interesting historical context and his keen > awareness of who has written what in the past, whether it be major works on > Mark Twain or obscure journal articles written decades in the past. He > frequently challenges both past and present scholars when their views > differ from his own. > > > Early in his book, Scharnhorst declares that there is enough circumstantial > evidence to label Samuel Clemens a "latent pedophile, obsessed with > prepubescent lasses" (105). It is a psychoanalytic theory advanced as early > as 1977 by John Seelye in _Mark Twain in the Movies_ and in 1991 by Guy > Cardwell in _The Man Who Was Mark Twain_. Some readers will likely conclude > that Scharnhorst overreaches in his search for convincing evidence by > citing Clemens's affectionate letter to his sister-in-law Mollie Clemens > asking her to kiss his six-year-old niece Jennie for him. Scharnhorst > characterizes the letter as "creepy" (105). To further his argument he > labels the compliment Clemens gave his wife Livy calling her "slender and > beautiful and girlish" as "most unusual" (106). In a further observation he > states that Clemens's pet names for his wife seemed to "infantilize her" > (610). In the end, however, Scharnhorst concludes "no solid evidence of any > actual improper behavior toward young girls has ever surfaced" (107). In > further efforts at psychoanalysis, Scharnhorst theorizes that both Clemens > and his brother Orion may have suffered from attention deficit > hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He quotes Clemens's statement, "I was born > excited" as well as a long passage from a memoir written by Clemens's > fellow journalist and roommate Dan De Quille who described Clemens as > "nervously overstrung." To further support this argument Scharnhorst points > out "As is common for children with ADHD, many of Sam's early friends were > younger than he was" (40). > > > Livy fares rather well under Scharnhorst's scrutiny with one minor > exception. Livy once told her daughter Susy that the letters Clemens sent > her during their courtship were "the loveliest love letters that were ever > written." Scharnhorst calls that "a hyperbolic statement that demonstrates > her own facility for fiction" (474). > > > Scharnhorst challenges and often corrects other biographers on a variety of > subjects. Among them are: Robert E. Weir and Andrew Levy regarding > Clemens's progressive thinking; Shelley Fisher Fishkin regarding what > Scharnhorst defines as a mistake of "presentism"--"reinventing him as if he > was our contemporary"; Andrew Hoffman regarding "silly speculation" > related to possible homosexual behavior; James C. Austin and Albert E. > Stone, Jr. regarding Clemens's early publications appearing on the East > Coast; Donnelyn Curtis and Lawrence Berkove regarding Clemens's defense of > the Chinese workers in California; Jim Zwick regarding Clemens's views on > Hawaiian annexation; Albert Bigelow Paine regarding advice Clemens received > from Anson Burlingame--which Scharnhorst feels rings hollow; Effie Mona > Mack, Albert E. Stone, Jr., Andrew Hoffman, Joseph B. McCullough, Janice > McIntire-Strasberg, Joe Jackson, and Ron Powers regarding Mark Twain's > early newspaper report of the _Hornet_ disaster and its importance to his > career; Franklin Walker, G. Ezra Dane, Charles Webster, and James Caron > regarding their misidentification of an Albert Bierstadt painting at > Yosemite that Clemens wrote about; Richard S. Lowry, Robert Regan, and > Dewey Ganzel regarding their "tolerating" Clemens's plagiarism in reports > from the _Quaker City_ tour of the Holy Land. > > > One scholar Scharnhorst does not openly challenge--if only through > omission--is Kevin Mac Donnell, who has advanced the theory that Clemens > took his pen name "Mark Twain" from a cartoonish character in a sketch in > _Vanity Fair_. When Mac Donnell published his theory in the _Mark Twain > Journal_ (Spring/Fall 2012) it received national media attention that > lasted through 2014. Ignoring the theory entirely, Scharnhorst sticks to > his own theory that the "Mark Twain" pseudonym originated when Clemens > charged his Nevada bar tabs--two marks for two drinks. That theory, > however, has been discredited. In January 2015 James Caron reported to the > Mark Twain Forum his discovery of a newspaper report that divulged the > bar-tab story originated with the Nevada journalist Alfred Doten who told > it for entertainment purposes to other reporters who never knew Clemens. > > > Much misinformation regarding Clemens originated from the "social media" of > the nineteenth century in the form of "news" written by local reporters > across Nevada and California who baited, hoaxed, bullied, and practiced > character assassination with one another with accusations of alcohol > abusing, fornicating, and suffering from venereal diseases. Such reports > are at the heart of Scharnhorst's theory that a sexually active Clemens > contracted venereal disease. When a rival newspaper reporter for the San > Francisco _Bulletin_ scolded Clemens for coming from the Chinatown > district, Scharnhorst declares "There was no good reason for a white male > to frequent Chinatown except to patronize a bar or brothel" (206). > Scharnhorst concedes that evidence for Clemens's having contracted a > venereal disease is circumstantial. However, he reminds readers of that > possibility several times throughout the book whenever Clemens reported he > suffered from a cold or other ailment (207, 302, 369). > > > Other subjects on which Scharnhorst differs from previous scholars include > one regarding Clemens's father, John Marshall Clemens. Both Paine and > Clemens himself told the story of how the family's misfortunes required the > elder Clemens to sell a slave named Charley in January 1842. Scharnhorst > repeats the story as have other recent biographers. However, in 1989 Mark > Twain Project editors Dahlia Armon and Walter Blair cautioned that a close > reading of Clemens's letter to his wife Jane suggested that Charley was not > a slave, but a horse (_Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer Among the Indians_, pp. > 277-78.) > > > Another event that has inspired differing interpretations surrounds the > trip Clemens made in 1854 to Muscatine, Iowa, carrying a pistol to his > brother Orion's home. Scharnhorst again follows Paine's interpretation that > Sam carried the pistol without any real intent to harm Orion. However, in > _Mark Twain and Orion Clemens_ (2003) Philip Fanning believes Clemens's > intent was homicidal and supports his theory with a 1901 letter Clemens > wrote to his friend Joseph Twichell wherein he confessed, "I bought a > revolver once and travelled twelve hundred miles to kill a man" (Fanning, > p. 37). > > > While a number of Scharnhorst's theories are open to lively debate, small > errors do creep in. For example, a photo of Clemens holding a typestick is > described as Clemens holding a "typecase," which is a piece of furniture > (47); Clemens contributed only one article to _American Courier_ in 1852, > not "a pair," (64); _The Celebrated Jumping Frog_ sold only about 4,000 > copies in two years, not 14,000 (386). A number of photos are credited to > the author's collection when originals of these photos are owned by > archives elsewhere. One major error is the statement that during the > _Quaker City_ excursion and Clemens's visit to Spain in the company of > fellow passengers Julia Newell and Reeves Jackson, "he recorded almost > nothing about this week" (434). Scharnhorst coyly observes that Clemens did > not mention sleeping arrangements and speculates that "Sam preferred > discretion to disclosure" because fellow travelers Newell and Jackson, a > married man, had fallen in love. Clemens, in fact, did write a chapter on > Spain that was eventually edited out of _The Innocents Abroad_. The > forty-three page manuscript is in the Vassar College Special Collections. > It is a lively account of some Spanish misadventures and perhaps will be > included in a University of California Works edition of _The Innocents > Abroad_ at some future date. > > > Much of the welcome new material presented in this volume has been > unearthed from historical newspaper files that continue to flood into > internet databases. The availability of new data serves to supplement, > confirm and revise what has been previously written or theorized, and > Scharnhorst makes much use of it by quoting newspaper reviews of Clemens's > books and lectures. The book features extensive reference notes, a massive > bibliography of print sources and a comprehensive index. Although > Scharnhorst comments, "I cannot overstate the importance of the new > technology in revolutionizing literary studies" (xxvii), he lists no > internet resources in his bibliography. Whether or not one agrees with > Scharnhorst's points of view, scholars and libraries will do well to add > this one to their bookshelves as a well-written challenge to previous > scholarship that should not be overlooked. > -- John Muller 202.236.3413 Capital Community News l Greater Greater Washington l Washington Syndicate *Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C: The Lion of Anacostia <http://www.amazon.com/Frederick-Douglass-Washington-D-c-Anacostia/dp/1609495772/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=H42HP4SBZ8OA&coliid=I34OMAR1SV8L9G>* [The History Press, 2012] Winner of 2013 DC READS Mark Twain in Washington, D.C.: The Adventures of a Capital Correspondent <http://amzn.to/19PzIFd> [The History Press, 2013]