Mark Twain's Autobiography, Finally Released

[The_Dude 1,142]

Mark Twain's Autobiography, Finally Released

(CBS) The most celebrated American author and humorist of all time has assured his place in the 21st century.

Mark Twain's autobiography, shut inside a vault for 100 years since his death in 1910, will finally be published.

The author of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "The Prince and the Pauper" and the iconic 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" left 5,000 pages of his memoirs at the University of California at Berkeley under orders that they not see the light of day for a century, reports the Independent.

Why did he want to keep scholars and literary devotees waiting for so many years?

Many speculate that the pages are filled with criticism of the politics of the day, of his former lovers and views on God.

"There is a perception that Twain spent his final years basking in the adoration of fans. The autobiography will perhaps show that it wasn't such a happy time," the historian Laura Trombley told the Independent. "He spent six months of the last year of his life writing a manuscript full of vitriol, saying things that he'd never said about anyone in print before. It really is 400 pages of bile."

Twain struggled with financial problems in his later years and had many debts. He had also struggled with depression following the deaths of his wife and daughter.

This is the first time that the world will have access to these pages.

"There are so many biographies of Twain, and many of them have used bits and pieces of the autobiography," Robert Hirst, who is leading the team at Berkeley editing the complete text told the Independent. "But biographers pick and choose what bits to quote. By publishing Twain's book in full, we hope that people will be able to come to their own complete conclusions about what sort of a man he was."

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I'm definitely excited about this book release. Twain has always been my favorite author and I can't wait for this to be published.

[IndigoSkies 168]

I wanna read this. I always liked MT.

I follow him on Twitter. He's a riot.

Edited May 25, 2010 by IndigoSkies

[Obama 2012 1,714]

awesome

It's a shame though in this Politically Correct and bastardized society that many youth today will never get to read his works.

Morons and their "banned books"

[IndigoSkies 168]

Why won't youth get to read the book?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Why won't youth get to read the book?

Books like Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer are discouraged and sometimes banned in many areas due to their 'racial' nature...

[The_Dude 1,142]

Why won't youth get to read the book?

If they publish it unabridged, how many kids are going to read a 5,000 page book?

[Kang Lang 7]

i read huck finn and tom sawyer as a little girl and had to re- read huck finn in college. at first i was really dreading it since i am not a "re-reader" but i found more things to love as an adult some of the humour was waaaay over my head as an 8 year old. CANNOT wait for the bio to come out!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

It could detract from his brilliance as a writer but then his 100 year reputation precedes whatever his darkest secrets reveal about him.

[daffydill 0]

Am really looking to this one.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I think Life magazine published about a half dozen of his unfinished works about forty years ago. That was some most interesting stuff. I expect his hopefully unpolished memoirs would be of an equally stimulating nature.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Looking forward to reading this. He is a true great American writer. I do expect it to be politically incorrect though and that is even more good.