Excerpt from Mark Twain and the Happy Island His little story of The Happy Island has a place of its own in Mark Twain literature, in that it presents an idyllic picture of our philosopher-humorist in the serener days of his later life - a picture of which the author herself was a part. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

For Mark Twain, it was love at first landfall. Samuel Clemens first encountered the Bermuda Islands in 1867 on a return voyage from the Holy Land and found them much to his liking. One of the most isolated spots in the world, Bermuda offered the writer a refuge from his harried and sometimes sad existence on the mainland, and this island paradise called him back another seven times. Clemens found that Bermuda’s beauty, pace, weather, and company were just the medicine he needed, and its seafaring culture with few connections to the outside world appealed to his love of travel by water. This book is the first comprehensive study of Clemens’s love affair with Bermuda, a vivid depiction of a celebrated author on recurring vacations. Donald Hoffmann has culled and clarified passages from Mark Twain’s travel pieces, letters, and unpublished autobiographical dictation—with cross-references to his fiction and infrequently cited short pieces—to create a little-known view of the author at leisure on his fantasy island. Mark Twain in Paradise sheds light on both Clemens’s complex character and the topography and history of the islands. Hoffmann has plumbed the voluminous Mark Twain scholarship and Bermudian archives to faithfully re-create turn-of-the-century Bermuda, supplying historical and biographical background to give his narrative texture and depth. He offers insight into Bermuda’s natural environment, traditional stone houses, and romantic past, and he presents dozens of illustrations, both vintage and new, showing that much of what Mark Twain described can still be seen today. Hoffmann also provides insight into the social circles Clemens moved in—and sometimes collected around himself. When visiting the islands, he rubbed shoulders with the likes of socialist Upton Sinclair and multimillionaire Henry H. Rogers; with Woodrow Wilson and his lover, socialite Mary Peck; as well as with the young girls to whom he enjoyed playing grandfather. “You go to heaven if you want to,” Mark Twain wrote from Bermuda in 1910 during his long last visit. “I’d druther stay here.” And because much of what Clemens enjoyed in the islands is still available to experience today, visitors to Bermuda can now have America’s favorite author as their guide. Mark Twain in Paradise is an unexpected addition to the vast literature by and about Mark Twain and a work of travel literature unlike any other.

The author of The Great Railway Bazaar explores the South Pacific by kayak: “This exhilarating epic ranks with [his] best travel books” (Publishers Weekly). In one of his most exotic and adventuresome journeys, travel writer Paul Theroux embarks on an eighteen-month tour of the South Pacific, exploring fifty-one islands by collapsible kayak. Beginning in New Zealand's rain forests and ultimately coming to shore thousands of miles away in Hawaii, Theroux paddles alone over isolated atolls, through dirty harbors and shark-filled waters, and along treacherous coastlines. Along the way, Theroux meets the king of Tonga, encounters street gangs in Auckland, and investigates a cargo cult in Vanuatu. From Australia to Tahiti, Fiji, Easter Island, and beyond, this exhilarating tropical epic is full of disarming observations and high adventure.

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This collection of poetry about Mark Twain explores a neglected dimension in his critical and popular reception during a period of over seventy years. The three hundred and fifty published ballads, sonnets, limericks, lyrics, couplets, and quatrains, including some in dialect, run the gamut from the banal and piquant to the eloquent, from rhymes by anonymous poetasters to highbrow tributes. Organized chronologically by topic, the sections also indicate the frequency with which the poems were reprinted and the venues in which they appeared. Though they were pitched to entertain general readers, this gathering should also prove useful to teachers and scholars of American literature. In all, they trace the crests in Twain’s fame and contemporary popular reputation over the decades and silhouette his pervasive presence in literary circles around the world during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.

Who was Mark Twain? Was he the genial author of two beloved boys books, the white-haired and white-suited avuncular humorist, the realistic novelist, the exposer of shams, the author repressed by bourgeois values, or the social satirist whose later writings embody an increasingly dark view? In light of those and other conceptions, the question we need to ask is not who he was but how did we get so many Mark Twains? The Mercurial Mark Twains(s): Reception History and Iconic Authorship provides answers to that question by examining the way Twain, his texts, and his image have been constructed by his audiences. Drawing on archival records of responses from common readers, reviewer reactions, analyses by Twain scholars and critics, and film and television adaptations, this study provides the first wide-ranging, fine-grained historical analysis of Twain’s reception in both the public and private spheres, from the 1860s until the end of the twentieth century.

In 'The Ordeal of Mark Twain' by Van Wyck Brooks, the author delves deep into the life and literary works of Mark Twain, exploring the complexities and challenges faced by the beloved American writer. Brooks employs a scholarly approach, analyzing Twain's writing style and its impact on the literary landscape of the time. Through detailed examinations of Twain's most famous works, Brooks sheds light on the social and cultural context in which Twain lived and wrote, offering valuable insights into the author's mindset and motivations. Van Wyck Brooks, known for his expertise in American literature, brings a wealth of knowledge and understanding to his exploration of Mark Twain. As a literary critic and historian, Brooks is able to provide a nuanced and insightful analysis of Twain's work, drawing connections between the author's personal experiences and his literary output. For readers interested in gaining a deeper understanding of Mark Twain's life and work, 'The Ordeal of Mark Twain' is a must-read. Brooks's engaging writing style, coupled with his extensive research, offers a comprehensive and enlightening examination of one of America's most iconic literary figures.