Who Is Mark Twain?

Finally spotted this book at Borders last night. Flipped through it, very excited to get my own copy, curl up with it, and lose myself in the previously unpublished wit and wisdom of Mr. Clemens. It looks like a fine piece of work.

I promise a full review once I get my hands on my very own copy. In the meantime, if any intrepid reader/publisher sees fit to send me a complementary copy, be my guest!!

Unpublished Essay Collection to Hit in April

Author and blogger Russ Kick of the literary blog Books Are People, Too was kind enough to drop me a line yesterday about the much-anticipated collection of unpublished Twain essays to be released in April, Who Is Mark Twain? Apparently, the publisher has made an entire uncorrected galley of the book available on its website.

If you proceed to his blog, you can check out the table of contents of the book, as well as Kick's own eloquent review. Of particular interest to me was ol' Sam's skewering of one of the canon's most overrated writers, Ms. Jane Austen.

Twain Speaks from Beyond the Grave

The New Yorker has published the rare Mark Twain essay "The Privilege of the Grave" in this week's issue. Written by Twain in 1905 (five years before his death), it has not seen the light of day until now. The essay is part of UC-Berkeley's Mark Twain archive.

Here's a snippet:

"We have charity for what the dead say. We may disapprove of what they say, but we do not insult them, we do not revile them, as knowing they cannot now defend themselves. If they should speak, what revelations there would be!"

Unpublished Twain Essays to See the Light of Day

Very exciting news today. Bob Miller of HarperCollins' brand new imprint HarperStudio has announced on his blog that the very first book they will publish is going to be a collection of 22 never-before-seen Mark Twain short humor pieces entitled Who Is Mark Twain?

"The pieces are simply wonderful, witty and incisive and a fascinating look at Twain’s developing craft," writes Miller.

Fittingly, during his lifetime Twain was published by HarperCollins (then known as Harper Brothers) beginning in 1895. Also fittingly, Who Is Mark Twain? will arrive in bookstores on April 21, the 99th anniversary of Twain's death.