Mississippi River along Tower Rock. Quarry Farm in Elmira, New York. Clemens in his Last Years. Text by Carlynn Trout with research assistance by Jillian Hartke. Bidewell, George Ivan. Boeser, Linda. Clemens and William L. Wright as Reporters and Authors. Clemens, Cyril. Clymer, Kenton J. Dahl, Curtis. Dains, Mary K. Dunbar, Laverne J. Jones, Judy Yaeger. Redden and Samuel L. King, Roy T. Mabbott, T. Mattson, J. Saum, Lewis O. Shoemaker, Floyd C. Smith, J. Spehar, Warren E.
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Kremer, and Kenneth H. Winn, eds. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, My Father, Mark Twain. Mark Twain for Young People. New York: Whittier Books, The Mark Twain Book. Marceline, MO: Walsworth, Young Mark Twain and the Mississippi.
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List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Esther Lombardi. Literature Expert. Esther Lombardi, M. Updated January 17, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Lombardi, Esther. In February , he improved his social status by marrying year-old Olivia Livy Langdon, the daughter of a rich New York coal merchant.
Writing to a friend shortly after his wedding, Twain could not believe his good luck: "I have Livy, like many people during that time, took pride in her pious, high-minded, genteel approach to life. Twain hoped that she would "reform" him, a mere humorist, from his rustic ways. The couple settled in Buffalo and later had four children. Thankfully, Twain's glorious "low-minded" Western voice broke through on occasion. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published in , and soon thereafter he began writing a sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Writing this work, commented biographer Everett Emerson, freed Twain temporarily from the "inhibitions of the culture he had chosen to embrace. Hemingway's comment refers specifically to the colloquial language of Twain's masterpiece, as for perhaps the first time in America, the vivid, raw, not-so-respectable voice of the common folk was used to create great literature.
Huck Finn required years to conceptualize and write, and Twain often put it aside. In the meantime, he pursued respectability with the publication of The Prince and the Pauper , a charming novel endorsed with enthusiasm by his genteel family and friends. In he put out Life on the Mississippi , an interesting but safe travel book.
When Huck Finn finally was published in , Livy gave it a chilly reception. After that, business and writing were of equal value to Twain as he set about his cardinal task of earning a lot of money. In , he triumphed as a book publisher by issuing the bestselling memoirs of former President Ulysses S.
Grant , who had just died. He lavished many hours on this and other business ventures, and was certain that his efforts would be rewarded with enormous wealth, but he never achieved the success he expected.
His publishing house eventually went bankrupt. Twain's financial failings, reminiscent in some ways of his father's, had serious consequences for his state of mind. They contributed powerfully to a growing pessimism in him, a deep-down feeling that human existence is a cosmic joke perpetrated by a chuckling God. Another cause of his angst, perhaps, was his unconscious anger at himself for not giving undivided attention to his deepest creative instincts, which centered on his Missouri boyhood.
His next major work, in , was The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson , a somber novel that some observers described as "bitter. He also wrote short stories, essays and several other books, including a study of Joan of Arc. Some of these later works have enduring merit, and his unfinished work The Chronicle of Young Satan has fervent admirers today. Twain's last 15 years were filled with public honors, including degrees from Oxford and Yale.
Probably the most famous American of the late 19th century, he was much photographed and applauded wherever he went. Indeed, he was one of the most prominent celebrities in the world, traveling widely overseas, including a successful 'round-the-world lecture tour in , undertaken to pay off his debts. But while those years were gilded with awards, they also brought him much anguish.
Early in their marriage, he and Livy had lost their toddler son, Langdon, to diphtheria; in , his favorite daughter, Susy, died at the age of 24 of spinal meningitis. The loss broke his heart, and adding to his grief, he was out of the country when it happened.
His youngest daughter, Jean, was diagnosed with severe epilepsy. In , when she was 29 years old, Jean died of a heart attack.
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