Mark Twain (2001) - full transcript

Man as Twain: "I WAS MADE

MERELY IN THE IMAGE OF GOD,

BUT NOT OTHERWISE RESEMBLING

HIM ENOUGH TO BE MISTAKEN

FOR HIM BY ANYBODY BUT A VERY

NEAR-SIGHTED PERSON.

I BELIEVE THAT OUR HEAVENLY

FATHER INVENTED MAN BECAUSE HE

WAS DISAPPOINTED IN THE MONKEY."

MARK TWAIN.

Narrator: HE WAS A SOUTHERNER



AND A NORTHERNER, A WESTERNER

AND A NEW ENGLAND YANKEE,

A TIRELESS WANDERER

WHO LIVED IN A THOUSAND PLACES

ALL AROUND THE WORLD.

HE WOULD CALL JUST TWO OF THEM

HOME--THE MISSOURI TOWN OF HIS

CHILDHOOD, WHICH HE WOULD

TRANSFORM INTO THE IDEALIZED

HOMETOWN OF EVERY AMERICAN BOY,

AND THE MAGNIFICENT CONNECTICUT

HOUSE HE BUILT FOR HIS WIFE AND

CHILDREN, WHICH HE HOPED WOULD

SHELTER THEM FROM HARDSHIP,



BUT WHERE HEARTBREAK FOUND THEM

NONETHELESS.

[STEAM WHISTLE BLOWS]

DURING HIS LONG LIFE, HE WAS

A PRINTER'S APPRENTICE AND

A RIVERBOAT PILOT, A PROSPECTOR

WHO NEVER STRUCK GOLD AND

A CONFEDERATE SOLDIER WHO NEVER

FOUGHT A BATTLE.

[LAUGHTER]

HE WAS CONSIDERED THE FUNNIEST

MAN ON EARTH, A BRILLIANT

PERFORMER ON THE LECTURE CIRCUIT

WHO COULD ENTERTAIN ALMOST ANY

AUDIENCE, AND A SPECTACULARLY

INEPT BUSINESSMAN WHOSE

COUNTLESS SCHEMES TO GET RICH

QUICK THREATENED AGAIN AND

AGAIN TO BRING HIM TO RUIN.

BUT ABOVE ALL, MARK TWAIN WAS

A WRITER, A NATURAL-BORN

STORYTELLER AND A SELF-TAUGHT

GENIUS WITH WORDS WHO

UNDERSTOOD BEFORE ANYONE ELSE

THAT ART COULD BE CREATED

OUT OF THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE.

Ron Powers, writer: THE GENIUS

WAS FOR SPEAKING

THE VOICE OF AMERICA,

FOR INTERNALIZING AND THEN

FLAWLESSLY REPRODUCING

THE VOICE OF THE AMERICAN

PEOPLE.

Arthur Miller, playwright:

HE WROTE AS THOUGH THERE HAD

BEEN NO LITERATURE BEFORE HIM,

AS THOUGH HE HAD DISCOVERED

THE ART OF TELLING A STORY ABOUT

THESE FOLKS THAT INHABIT THIS

CONTINENT AND THAT THERE WAS NO

OTHER CONTINENT.

IT WAS LIKE SOMETHING THAT ROSE

UP OUT OF THE SEA AND HAD NO

HISTORY, AND HE WAS JUST TELLING

WHAT HE RAN INTO.

Hal Holbrook, actor:

HE MADE AMERICAN SPEECH

SOMETHING TO BE ADMIRED.

EUROPEAN LANGUAGE WAS SUPPOSED

TO BE THE IDEAL, BUT HE JUST--

HE IDEALIZED THE AMERICAN

LANGUAGE, AND HE USED THE WAY

WE TALK AND TURNED IT INTO

LITERATURE.

Narrator: HE WROTE CONSTANTLY--

NEWSPAPER STORIES, POETRY,

PLAYS, POLITICAL DIATRIBES,

TRAVEL PIECES, IRREVERENT

MUSINGS ABOUT RELIGION, AND

A SERIES OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL

SKETCHES NOTED AS MUCH, HE

ADMITTED, FOR THE TALL TALES

THEY SPUN AS FOR THE TRUTH

THEY TOLD.

AND HE WROTE BOOKS--BOOKS READ

BY MILLIONS, INCLUDING

THE DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE STORY OF

A BACKWOODS BOY AND A RUNAWAY

SLAVE THAT SHOWED HIS PEOPLE

A WHOLE NEW WAY TO THINK

ABOUT THEMSELVES.

David Bradley, writer: I THINK

MARK TWAIN UNDERSTOOD

THAT IF WE WERE GOING TO BE

A COUNTRY, IF AMERICA WAS GOING

TO BE THE NATION THAT IT STARTED

OUT TO BE, THE PROBLEM OF RACE

HAD TO BE SOLVED,

AND I THINK HE REALIZED THAT IT

WASN'T BEING SOLVED.

MARK TWAIN TOLD THE TRUTH.

HE SAW WHAT WE WERE ABOUT AND

WAS NOT AFRAID TO DEAL WITH

THINGS THAT OTHER PEOPLE WERE

AFRAID TO DEAL WITH.

Narrator: LIKE THE NATION

HE WOULD COME TO EMBODY,

HE WAS ALWAYS REINVENTING

HIMSELF, ALWAYS RESTLESS,

ALWAYS FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS.

"I AM NOT AN AMERICAN,"

MARK TWAIN SAID,

"I AM THE AMERICAN."

Man as Twain: "I WAS BORN

THE 30th OF NOVEMBER 1835

IN THE ALMOST INVISIBLE VILLAGE

OF FLORIDA, MONROE COUNTY,

MISSOURI.

THE VILLAGE CONTAINED A HUNDRED

PEOPLE, AND I INCREASED

THE POPULATION BY 1%.

IT IS MORE THAN MANY OF

THE BEST MEN IN HISTORY

COULD HAVE DONE FOR A TOWN.

THERE IS NO RECORD OF A PERSON

DOING AS MUCH,

NOT EVEN SHAKESPEARE,

BUT I DID IT

FOR FLORIDA, MISSOURI,

AND IT SHOWS I COULD HAVE DONE

IT FOR ANY PLACE, EVEN LONDON,

I SUPPOSE."

Narrator: HE WAS BORN

SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS,

THE SIXTH OF 7 CHILDREN,

TWO MONTHS PREMATURE

AND SO THIN AND SICKLY, HIS

MOTHER REMEMBERED, THAT "I COULD

SEE NO PROMISE IN HIM."

BUT HALLEY'S COMET HAD BLAZED IN

THE SKY THE NIGHT OF HIS BIRTH,

AND SHE CLUNG TO THE HOPE THAT

IT MIGHT BE A BRIGHT OMEN FOR

HER BABY'S FUTURE.

HIS FATHER, JOHN CLEMENS, WAS

A MERCHANT, LAWYER, AND OWNER OF

A FEW SLAVES, WHOSE CHRONIC

FINANCIAL FAILURES HAD FORCED

HIM TO START OVER 5 TIMES

IN A DOZEN YEARS.

SAM CLEMENS WOULD REMEMBER THAT

HE NEVER SAW HIS FATHER LAUGH.

HIS MOTHER JANE WAS DIFFERENT.

THOUGH A DEVOUT AND GOD-FEARING

PRESBYTERIAN WHO MADE SURE HER

CHILDREN MEMORIZED THEIR BIBLE

VERSES, SHE LOVED DANCING AND

MUSIC, AND DELIGHTED IN HEARING

AND TELLING TALL TALES.

[HORSE WHINNIES]

IN 1839, HARD TIMES FORCED

THE CLEMENS FAMILY TO MOVE ONCE

MORE, THIS TIME TO A SMALL

MISSISSIPPI RIVER TOWN

CALLED HANNIBAL.

THERE, SAM CLEMENS WOULD

ACCUMULATE A LIFETIME'S

WORTH OF MEMORIES.

IN THE NEARBY WOODS,

HE AND HIS FRIENDS PLAYED

INDIANS, PIRATES, AND ROBIN HOOD

AND HIS MERRY MEN.

THEY EXPLORED A DEEP LIMESTONE

CAVE WHERE THE CORPSE OF

A 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL WAS

SAID TO BE PRESERVED IN A GLASS

CYLINDER AND WHERE A LOCAL

NE'ER-DO-WELL NAMED "INJUN JOE"

ONCE GOT LOST, SURVIVING ONLY

ON BATS.

THEY PLAYED HOOKY, SKIPPED

SUNDAY SCHOOL, AND SPENT WHOLE

DAYS ALONE ON AN ISLAND IN

THE MIDDLE OF THE RIVER--

FISHING, SMOKING CORN-COB PIPES,

INVENTING PRANKS TO PLAY

ON THE TOWNSPEOPLE.

[BOYS TALKING AND SPLASHING]

Ron Powers, writer: I THINK

THAT PLACE FORMED MARK TWAIN

AS IT HAS FORMED ALMOST

NO OTHER AMERICAN WRITER.

THROUGH MARK TWAIN, WE SEE

HANNIBAL AS AN EDEN.

WE SEE IT AS AN ETERNAL SUMMER.

WE SEE IT AS A PLACE OF WOODS

AND HILLS AND THAT GREAT FLOWING

RIVER AND BOYS IN STRAW HATS

FISHING AND FORMING FRIENDSHIPS,

AND THAT CERTAINLY WAS A PART OF

HIS CONSCIOUSNESS.

Narrator: MUCH TO HIS PARENTS'

DISAPPOINTMENT, ONE OF SAM'S

CLOSEST BOYHOOD FRIENDS WAS

TOM BLANKENSHIP, THE SON OF

THE TOWN DRUNK, WHO LIVED NEARBY

IN A WRECKED OLD HOUSE.

AFTER DARK, WHEN SAM HEARD TOM'S

SECRET CATCALL, HE WOULD SNEAK

OUT THE BEDROOM WINDOW TO JOIN

HIM IN A NIGHTTIME OF

ADVENTURES.

[OWL HOOTS]

Man as Twain: "HE WAS IGNORANT,

UNWASHED, INSUFFICIENTLY FED,

BUT HE HAD AS GOOD A HEART

AS EVER ANY BOY HAD.

HE WAS THE ONLY REALLY

INDEPENDENT PERSON, BOY OR MAN,

IN THE COMMUNITY, AND BY

CONSEQUENCE, HE WAS TRANQUILLY

AND CONTINUOUSLY HAPPY AND WAS

ENVIED BY ALL THE REST OF US."

Ron Powers, writer:

BUT THERE WAS AN UNDERCURRENT

TO HANNIBAL, AND THAT

UNDERCURRENT INVOLVED SUDDEN

DEATH BY DROWNING IN THE RIVER,

BY MURDEROUS THUGS WHO WALKED

THE STREETS, AND THE BOY WAS

AWARE OF ALL OF THESE THINGS.

[THUNDER]

Narrator: GROWING UP,

SAM CLEMENS WAS RESTLESS

AND NERVOUS AND DEEPLY SCARRED

WHEN FIRST A SISTER

AND THEN A BROTHER DIED

OF CHILDHOOD DISEASES.

[THUNDER]

HE WAS GIVEN TO TERRIFYING

NIGHTMARES AND SLEEP-WALKING

AND OCCASIONAL FEARS THAT

A LATE-NIGHT THUNDERSTORM WAS

GOD'S WARNING TO HIM

TO MEND HIS WAYS.

[ROOSTER CROWS]

EVERY SUMMER, SAM SPENT SEVERAL

WEEKS ON HIS UNCLE'S

NEARBY FARM.

THERE, HE AND HIS COUSINS

GATHERED IN THE EVENING IN

THE CABIN OF AN OLD SLAVE THEY

ALL CALLED "UNCLE DANIEL," WHO

THRILLED THEM WITH GHOST STORIES

AND INTRODUCED THEM TO

SPIRITUALS AND JUBILEES.

Voices singing:

♪ OH, DO, LORD... ♪

Ron Powers, writer: I THINK

THAT RACE WAS ALWAYS A FACTOR

IN HIS CONSCIOUSNESS

PARTLY BECAUSE BLACK PEOPLE

AND BLACK VOICES WERE THE NORM

FOR HIM BEFORE HE UNDERSTOOD

THERE WERE DIFFERENCES.

Voices singing: ♪ OH, DO, LORD,

REMEMBER ME ♪

Ron Powers, writer: THEY WERE

THE FIRST VOICES OF HIS YOUTH

AND THE MOST POWERFUL,

THE MOST METAPHORICAL, THE MOST

VIVID STORYTELLING VOICES OF HIS

EARLY CHILDHOOD.

UNCLE DAN'L AND AUNT HANNAH, WHO

WAS RUMORED TO BE A THOUSAND

YEARS OLD AND WAS A CONFIDANT

OF MOSES.

THESE WERE TOWERING

PERSONALITIES TO HIM.

[MAN HUMMING SPIRITUAL]

Man as Twain:

"IN MY SCHOOLBOY DAYS,

I HAD NO AVERSION TO SLAVERY.

I WAS NOT AWARE THAT THERE WAS

ANYTHING WRONG ABOUT IT.

THE LOCAL PAPERS SAID NOTHING

AGAINST IT.

THE LOCAL PULPIT TAUGHT US THAT

GOD APPROVED IT, THAT IT WAS

A HOLY THING, AND THAT

THE DOUBTER NEED ONLY LOOK IN

THE BIBLE IF HE WISHED TO SETTLE

HIS MIND, AND THEN THE TEXTS

WERE READ ALOUD TO US TO

MAKE THE MATTER SURE.

IF THE SLAVES THEMSELVES HAD

AN AVERSION TO SLAVERY, THEY

WERE WISE AND SAID NOTHING."

Narrator: ONE OF HIS MOST

LASTING CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

WAS OF A DOZEN MEN AND WOMEN

CHAINED TOGETHER,

WAITING TO BE SHIPPED DOWNRIVER

TO THE SLAVE MARKET.

"THEY HAD," HE SAID,

"THE SADDEST FACES I EVER SAW."

IN 1847, JOHN MARSHAL CLEMENS

WAS CAUGHT IN A SLEET STORM,

DEVELOPED PNEUMONIA,

AND ON MARCH 24, DIED.

TO HELP HIS FAMILY GET BY, SAM

HAD TO LEAVE SCHOOL AND GO TO

WORK AS A PRINTER'S APPRENTICE.

AT 14, HE GOT A JOB AT

A BRAND-NEW PAPER IN TOWN--

THE HANNIBAL JOURNAL.

HIS BOSS WAS HIS OLDER BROTHER

ORION, WHO HAD INHERITED HIS

FATHER'S GIFT FOR FINANCIAL

FAILURE.

OVER THE COURSE OF TWO YEARS,

ORION NEVER ONCE PAID HIS

BROTHER THE $3.50 A WEEK

HE HAD PROMISED.

Ron Powers, writer:

ORION WAS A SCHLEMIEL,

BUT HE DID, IN HIS BUMBLING,

LURE SAMMY INTO THE WORLD OF

WORDS AND IDEAS.

BECOMING A PRINTER'S APPRENTICE

GAVE HIM AN ALMOST TACTILE

POSSESSION OF WORDS.

HE COULD NOW LAY HIS HANDS ON

THOSE LETTERS, AND HE COULD SET

THE WORDS IN TYPE, AND HE COULD

FEEL THE WORDS.

Narrator: SAM MADE THE MOST

OF THE EXPERIENCE.

HE READ EVERYTHING HE COULD

FIND--SHAKESPEARE AND THE BIBLE,

HISTORIES AND NOVELS, NEWSPAPERS

FROM EVERYWHERE--

AND HE NOW BEGAN TO WRITE

OCCASIONAL LIGHT VERSE AND

HUMOROUS SKETCHES

UNDER THE PSEUDONYM OF

W. EPAMINONDAS ADRASTUS BLAB,

"ANYTHING," HE LATER SAID,

"TO MAKE THE PAPER LIVELY."

Man as Twain:

"HANNIBAL JOURNAL,

MAY 6, 1853.

TERRIBLE ACCIDENT!

500 MEN KILLED AND MISSING!!

WE HAD SET THE ABOVE HEAD UP,

EXPECTING (OF COURSE) TO USE IT,

BUT AS THE ACCIDENT HASN'T

HAPPENED, YET, WE'LL SAY...

(TO BE CONTINUED.)"

[STEAM WHISTLE BLOWS]

Narrator: BY THE TIME

SAM WAS 17,

HANNIBAL SEEMED TOO CONFINING.

AFTER SOLEMNLY PROMISING HIS

MOTHER NOT TO DRINK OR GAMBLE,

HE PACKED HIS BAGS AND SET OFF

DOWN THE RIVER TO MAKE A NAME

FOR HIMSELF.

IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF

A LIFETIME OF WANDERING.

HE SET TYPE IN ST. LOUIS,

NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA,

KEOKUK, IOWA, AND CINCINNATI,

WHERE HE ALSO WROTE HUMOROUS

ARTICLES AT $5.00 EACH

UNDER THE PEN NAME

THOMAS JEFFERSON SNODGRASS.

NONE OF IT SATISFIED HIM.

IN THE SPRING OF 1857,

HE BOARDED A STEAMBOAT CALLED

THE PAUL JONES BOUND FOR

NEW ORLEANS WITH THE GRAND

AMBITION OF GOING ON TO BRAZIL

TO MAKE HIS FORTUNE TRADING IN

COCA PLANTS,

BUT ON HIS WAY DOWN THE RIVER,

AN OLD DREAM WAS REAWAKENED.

Man as Twain:

"WHEN I WAS A BOY, THERE WAS

BUT ONE PERMANENT AMBITION AMONG

MY COMRADES IN OUR VILLAGE.

THAT WAS TO BE A STEAMBOATMAN.

WE HAD TRANSIENT AMBITIONS OF

OTHER SORTS, BUT THEY WERE ONLY

TRANSIENT.

WHEN A CIRCUS CAME AND WENT,

IT LEFT US ALL BURNING

TO BECOME CLOWNS.

THE FIRST NEGRO MINSTREL SHOW

THAT CAME TO OUR SECTION LEFT US

ALL SUFFERING TO TRY THAT KIND

OF LIFE.

NOW AND THEN, WE HAD A HOPE THAT

IF WE LIVED AND WERE GOOD, GOD

WOULD PERMIT US TO BE PIRATES.

THESE AMBITIONS FADED OUT, EACH

IN ITS TURN, BUT THE AMBITION

TO BE A STEAMBOATMAN

ALWAYS REMAINED."

[STEAM WHISTLE BLOWS]

Narrator: BY THE TIME

SAM CLEMENS REACHED NEW ORLEANS,

HE HAD CONVINCED THE PILOT

OF THE PAUL JONES

TO TAKE HIM ON

AS AN APPRENTICE IN EXCHANGE

FOR THE FIRST $500 OF HIS WAGES.

SAM SOON REALIZED JUST HOW

DIFFICULT THE JOB WAS.

A RIVERBOAT PILOT NEEDED TO

COMMIT TO MEMORY EVERY LANDMARK

ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BIG RIVER,

1,200 TWISTING MILES

FROM NEW ORLEANS TO ST. LOUIS,

KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

RIFFLES ON THE WATER'S SURFACE

CAUSED BY WIND AND THOSE CREATED

BY DANGEROUS REEFS,

LEARN TO NOTE THE CHANGING

DEPTHS AT EVERY CRUCIAL SPOT

WHERE THE LEADSMEN DROPPED THEIR

KNOTTED ROPE LINES AND SANG OUT

THEIR MEASUREMENTS--

QUARTER-TWAIN, HALF-TWAIN, AND

THE MOST PLEASANT SOUND OF ALL

TO A PILOT--MARK TWAIN,

MEANING TWO FATHOMS, OR 12 FEET.

SAFE WATER.

A PILOT HAD TO DIGEST ALL THIS

INFORMATION AND THEN BE ABLE TO

APPLY IT DAY AND NIGHT, IN CLEAR

WEATHER AND IMPENETRABLE FOG.

Man as Twain:

"THE FACE OF THE WATER, IN

TIME, BECAME A WONDERFUL BOOK,

A BOOK THAT WAS A DEAD LANGUAGE

TO THE UNEDUCATED PASSENGER BUT

WHICH TOLD ITS MIND TO ME

WITHOUT RESERVE, DELIVERING ITS

MOST CHERISHED SECRETS AS

CLEARLY AS IF IT UTTERED THEM

WITH A VOICE.

AND IT WAS NOT A BOOK TO BE READ

ONCE AND THROWN ASIDE,

FOR IT HAD A NEW STORY TO TELL

EVERY DAY.

THROUGHOUT THE LONG 1,200 MILES,

THERE WAS NEVER A PAGE THAT WAS

VOID OF INTEREST, NEVER ONE THAT

YOU COULD LEAVE UNREAD AND LOST,

NEVER ONE THAT YOU WOULD WANT TO

SKIP THINKING YOU COULD FIND

HIGHER ENJOYMENT IN SOME

OTHER THING.

IN TRUTH, THE PASSENGER WHO

COULD NOT READ THIS BOOK SAW

NOTHING BUT ALL MANNER OF PRETTY

PICTURES IN IT,

PAINTED BY THE SUN AND SHADED

BY THE CLOUDS,

WHEREAS TO THE TRAINED EYE,

THESE WERE NOT PICTURES AT ALL,

BUT THE GRIMMEST AND MOST

DEAD-EARNEST OF READING MATTER."

[STEAM WHISTLE BLOWS]

Narrator: IN THE SPRING OF 1858,

SAM, NOW A CUB PILOT ON

THE SIDE-WHEELER PENNSYLVANIA,

PERSUADED HIS YOUNGER BROTHER

HENRY TO JOIN THE CREW

AS A CLERK.

THE TWO BROTHERS HAD ALWAYS BEEN

CLOSE, AND SAM WAS GRATEFUL FOR

HENRY'S COMPANIONSHIP, HAPPY TO

HAVE LAUNCHED HIM ON A CAREER.

BUT SAM GOT INTO A QUARREL WITH

THE PENNSYLVANIA'S PILOT AND WAS

TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER BOAT IN

NEW ORLEANS.

THE BROTHERS AGREED TO MEET

AT THEIR SISTER'S HOUSE

IN ST. LOUIS, AND HENRY SET OUT

UPRIVER ON THE PENNSYLVANIA.

SAM FOLLOWED TWO DAYS LATER ON

ANOTHER BOAT.

AT GREENVILLE, MISSISSIPPI,

SOMEONE FROM SHORE SHOUTED TO

SAM'S BOAT THAT

THE PENNSYLVANIA'S BOILERS HAD

BLOWN UP AND SHE HAD GONE DOWN

NEAR MEMPHIS.

IN ARKANSAS, SAM WAS RELIEVED

WHEN HE GOT A NEWSPAPER

THAT LISTED HENRY AMONG

THE UNINJURED,

BUT THEN SAM BEGAN SEEING

CORPSES BOBBING IN THE WATER,

AND FARTHER UPRIVER ANOTHER

PAPER REPORTED THAT HENRY HAD

BEEN HURT.

WHEN HE FINALLY ARRIVED IN

MEMPHIS AND RUSHED TO

THE MAKESHIFT HOSPITAL,

HE FOUND HIS BROTHER, STILL

ALIVE, BUT BADLY BURNED AND NOT

EXPECTED TO SURVIVE.

Man as Twain:

"MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE,

FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 1858.

THE HORRORS OF 3 DAYS

HAVE SWEPT OVER ME.

THEY HAVE BLASTED MY YOUTH

AND LEFT ME AN OLD MAN

BEFORE MY TIME.

FOR 48 HOURS, I LABORED AT

THE BEDSIDE OF MY POOR BURNED

AND BRUISED BUT UNCOMPLAINING

BROTHER.

LONG BEFORE THIS REACHES YOU,

MY POOR HENRY WILL HAVE FINISHED

HIS BLAMELESS CAREER, AND

THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE WILL HAVE

GONE OUT IN UTTER DARKNESS."

Narrator: ON JUNE 21,

HENRY CLEMENS,

JUST 19 YEARS OLD, DIED.

SAM BLAMED HIMSELF FOR HAVING

LURED HENRY ONTO THE RIVER IN

THE FIRST PLACE AND ESPECIALLY

FOR NOT BEING THERE

WHEN HIS LITTLE BROTHER

HAD NEEDED HIM MOST.

Ron Powers, writer:

HENRY CLEMENS' DEATH WAS

THE CULMINATING SORROW OF HIS

BOYHOOD, AND I THINK IT ANNEALED

A GREAT SORROW IN HIM

AND A GREAT SENSE OF REMORSE

THAT HE NEVER LOST.

HE SEEMED TO BELIEVE HIMSELF

IN SOME WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL

OF THE SORROWS AROUND HIM, AND

THAT'S A FEELING THAT PERSISTED

INTO OLD AGE, BUT HE ALSO HAD

RECOURSE TO A WAY OF REPAIRING

THIS SORROW, AND THAT WAS

THROUGH HUMOR.

HE ONCE WROTE THAT THE SOURCE OF

ALL HUMOR IS NOT LAUGHTER,

BUT SORROW.

HE SAID, "THERE IS NO LAUGHTER

IN HEAVEN."

Narrator: IN THE SPRING OF 1859,

A YEAR AFTER HENRY'S DEATH,

SAMUEL CLEMENS RECEIVED HIS

OFFICIAL RIVERBOAT PILOT'S

CERTIFICATE.

HE SOON BEGAN EARNING $250

A MONTH--AS MUCH, HE LIKED TO

POINT OUT, AS THE VICE PRESIDENT

OF THE UNITED STATES.

Man as Twain:

"A PILOT IN THOSE DAYS WAS

THE ONLY UNFETTERED AND ENTIRELY

INDEPENDENT HUMAN BEING THAT

LIVED IN THE EARTH.

HIS MOVEMENTS WERE FREE.

HE CONSULTED NO ONE.

HE RECEIVED COMMANDS

FROM NOBODY.

SO HERE WAS THE NOVELTY OF

A KING WITHOUT A KEEPER,

AN ABSOLUTE MONARCH WHO WAS

ABSOLUTE IN SOBER TRUTH AND NOT

BY A FICTION OF WORDS."

Narrator:

NEARLY 1,000 STEAMBOATS WERE

CHURNING UP AND DOWN

THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS

TRIBUTARIES, CARRYING MORE CARGO

THAN ALL THE NATION'S

OCEANGOING VESSELS COMBINED.

SAM SERVED ON AT LEAST 19 OF

THEM, INCLUDING THE WHITE CLOUD

AND THE CRESCENT CITY,

THE ARAGO, THE ALECK SCOTT,

THE CITY OF MEMPHIS,

AND THE JOHN J. ROE.

Man as Twain:

"FOR A LONG TIME, I WAS ON

A BOAT THAT WAS SO SLOW WE USED

TO FORGET WHAT YEAR IT WAS WE

LEFT PORT IN.

FERRYBOATS USED TO LOSE VALUABLE

TRIPS BECAUSE THEIR PASSENGERS

GREW OLD AND DIED WAITING FOR US

TO GET BY.

THIS BOAT, THE JOHN J. ROE,

WAS DISMALLY SLOW.

STILL, WE OFTEN HAD PRETTY

EXCITING TIMES RACING WITH

ISLANDS AND SUCH THINGS."

Narrator: HIS TIME ON THE RIVER

WAS HIS SCHOOLING,

SAM SAID LATER,

IN WHICH "I GOT PERSONALLY

ACQUAINTED WITH ABOUT ALL

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF HUMAN

NATURE THAT ARE TO BE FOUND IN

FICTION, BIOGRAPHY, OR HISTORY."

EVERYWHERE HE WENT, HE STORED UP

MEMORIES OF PLACES, SCENES,

AND PEOPLE.

[WORKMEN TALKING]

Ron Powers, writer:

HE WAS AN ENORMOUS NOTICER.

HE WAS A PRODIGIOUS NOTICER.

HE WAS ALWAYS NOTICING WHETHER

PEOPLE HAD THEIR HANDS IN THEIR

POCKETS OR NOT OR WHAT WAS IN

THEIR POCKETS.

HE WAS NOTICING MANNERS OF

DRESS, THE WAY PEOPLE HELD

THEMSELVES.

HE WAS NOTICING AFFECTS AND

PRETENSES, AND THIS SAME

FASCINATION WITH NOTICING, WHICH

I THINK CAME FROM THOSE EARLY

CHILDHOOD NIGHTS ON THE FARM,

NOTICING THE NUANCES OF

THE SLAVE SONGS AND THE FOLK

TALES--THAT SAME NOTICING

TRANSFERRED ITSELF TO ABSORBING

THE RIVER.

Hamlin Hill, Twain scholar:

THE MISSISSIPPI BECAME FOR

MARK TWAIN HIS HARVARD AND HIS

YALE, THE WAY THAT MELVILLE SAYS

THE WHALING BOAT WAS HIS HARVARD

AND HIS YALE.

HE ANNOUNCED THAT EVERY

CHARACTER HE HAD EVER WRITTEN,

CREATED IN HIS LITERATURE,

HE HAD MET ON

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

Narrator: SAM CLEMENS ASSUMED

HE WOULD LIVE OUT HIS DAYS AS

A PILOT AND "DIE AT THE WHEEL,"

HE SAID, "WHEN MY MISSION

WAS ENDED."

[EXPLOSION]

BUT ON APRIL 12, 1861,

THE CIVIL WAR BEGAN

AND ALL COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC ON

THE MISSISSIPPI STOPPED.

THE CLEMENS FAMILY WAS DIVIDED.

SAM'S MOTHER MADE NO SECRET OF

HER HATRED OF YANKEES,

BUT HIS BROTHER ORION HAD BECOME

A REPUBLICAN AND HAD CAMPAIGNED

FOR ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

SAM JUST HOPED THAT THE WAR

WOULD BE OVER SOON SO THAT HE

COULD RETURN TO THE RIVER.

WHEN SEVERAL CHILDHOOD FRIENDS

HELPED FORM A CONFEDERATE

MILITIA COMPANY CALLED

THE MARION RANGERS,

SAM SIGNED ON, TOO, SIMPLY

FOR SOMETHING TO DO,

BUT AFTER TWO WEEKS SPENT HIDING

IN THE WOODS FROM EVEN THE RUMOR

OF APPROACHING UNION TROOPS,

THE MARION RANGERS DISBANDED.

MOST OF SAM'S FRIENDS ENLISTED

IN THE REGULAR CONFEDERATE ARMY.

SAM DID NOT.

HE SKEDADDLED.

Man as Twain:

"WHEN I RETIRED FROM

THE REBEL ARMY IN '61,

I RETIRED IN GOOD ORDER.

IT SEEMED TO ME THAT FOR A FIRST

ATTEMPT AT A RETREAT, IT WAS NOT

BADLY DONE.

I HAD DONE NO ADVANCING IN ALL

THAT CAMPAIGN THAT WAS AT ALL

EQUAL TO IT."

Narrator: MEANWHILE,

PRESIDENT LINCOLN

HAD REWARDED ORION FOR HIS

SUPPORT BY APPOINTING HIM

SECRETARY OF THE BRAND-NEW

TERRITORY OF NEVADA.

SAM, NOW 25 YEARS OLD, BEGGED

HIS BROTHER TO TAKE HIM ALONG.

OTHERS COULD GO TO WAR.

SAM CLEMENS WAS GOING WEST.

Man shouting: HYAH!

[HORSE WHINNIES]

HAH! HAH!

[HORSES WHINNY]

Man as Twain:

"WE JUMPED INTO THE STAGE.

THE DRIVER CRACKED HIS WHIP,

AND WE BOWLED AWAY AND LEFT

THE STATES BEHIND US.

THERE WAS A FRESHNESS AND

BREEZINESS AND AN EXHILARATING

SENSE OF EMANCIPATION."

Narrator: ON JULY 26, 1861,

THE CLEMENS BROTHERS LEFT

ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI, ON

THE CENTRAL OVERLAND AND

PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANY

STAGECOACH.

SAM BROUGHT ALONG HIS PIPES,

5 POUNDS OF TOBACCO, AND

A PISTOL, HE SAID, THAT HAD ONLY

ONE FAULT--

"YOU COULD NOT HIT

ANYTHING WITH IT."

THEY CROSSED KANSAS, THEN

NEBRASKA, STOPPING EVERY

10 TO 15 MILES TO CHANGE HORSES

AT STATION HOUSES MADE OF SOD.

"IT WAS THE FIRST TIME," SAM

NOTED, "WE HAD EVER SEEN A MAN'S

FRONT YARD ON TOP OF HIS HOUSE."

ON WARM DAYS, HE PERCHED ON TOP

OF THE STAGECOACH, CLOTHED ONLY

IN HIS UNDERWEAR, DRINKING IN

THE FRESH AIR AND ADMIRING

THE ENDLESS EMPTY SPACES.

Man as Twain:

"IT WAS A COMFORT TO SIT UP

AND CONTEMPLATE THE MAJESTIC

PANORAMA OF MOUNTAINS AND

VALLEYS SPREAD OUT BELOW US AND

EAT HAM AND HARD-BOILED EGGS

WHILE OUR SPIRITUAL NATURES

REVELED ALTERNATELY IN

RAINBOWS, THUNDERSTORMS, AND

PEERLESS SUNSETS.

NOTHING HELPS SCENERY

LIKE HAM AND EGGS--

HAM AND EGGS AND AFTER THESE,

A PIPE, AN OLD, RANK,

DELICIOUS PIPE.

HAM AND EGGS AND SCENERY,

A DOWNGRADE, A FLYING COACH,

A FRAGRANT PIPE,

AND A CONTENTED HEART--

THESE MAKE HAPPINESS.

IT'S WHAT ALL THE AGES HAVE

STRUGGLED FOR."

[HORSE WHINNIES]

Narrator: 3 WEEKS AFTER LEAVING

MISSOURI, THEY PULLED INTO

CARSON CITY, THE RAW NEW

SETTLEMENT THAT WAS THE CAPITAL

OF NEVADA TERRITORY.

BUT AS ORION STARTED HIS JOB AS

TERRITORIAL SECRETARY, SAM

REALIZED THAT BEING SECRETARY TO

THE SECRETARY CARRIED WITH IT

NO DUTIES AND NO PAY.

HE DECIDED TO TRY HIS HAND AT

GOLD AND SILVER MINING ALONG

WITH THE THOUSANDS OF OTHER MEN

WHO HAD FLOODED INTO NEVADA ON

THE PROMISE OF EASY RICHES.

HE WAS A COMPLETE FAILURE.

Man as Twain:

"MY DEAR MOTHER, THE COUNTRY

IS FABULOUSLY RICH IN GOLD,

SILVER, COPPER, LEAD, COAL,

IRON, QUICKSILVER, THIEVES,

MURDERERS, DESPERADOES, LAWYERS,

CHRISTIANS, INDIANS, CHINAMEN,

SPANIARDS, GAMBLERS, SHARPERS,

COYOTES, POETS, PREACHERS,

AND JACKASS RABBITS."

Narrator: IN SEPTEMBER 1862,

HE GAVE UP MINING AND MOVED

TO VIRGINIA CITY,

A NEVADA BOOM TOWN BUILT ATOP

THE COMSTOCK LODE, THE RICHEST

BODY OF SILVER ORE EVER

DISCOVERED IN AMERICA.

VIRGINIA CITY WAS ALSO THE HOME

OF THE TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE,

THE MOST-READ NEWSPAPER BETWEEN

CHICAGO AND SAN FRANCISCO.

ITS EDITOR OFFERED SAM A JOB

COVERING LOCAL EVENTS

AT $25 A WEEK.

CLEMENS LOVED THE REPORTER'S

LIFE.

HE HAUNTED SALOONS, THEATERS,

WHOREHOUSES.

HE DRANK, SMOKED, PLAYED CARDS

AND BILLIARDS WITH OTHER NEWSMEN

LATE INTO THE NIGHT.

Ron Powers, writer:

GOING WEST BROUGHT HIM

ACCIDENTALLY INTO THE COMPANY

OF A GREAT PROTO-PSYCHEDELIC,

COUNTERCULTURE NEWSPAPER SOCIETY

OUT WEST IN NEVADA--

A BUNCH OF TALENTED WILD MEN

IMPROVISING A WHOLE NEW

NEWSPAPER ART FORM WITH

TALL TALES AND LIES AND HOAXES

AND GREAT WRITING.

Narrator: WITH HIS NEW CAREER

UNDER WAY, SAM CLEMENS DECIDED

TO TAKE ON A NEW NAME--

ONE THAT WOULD STICK

WITH HIM THE REST OF HIS LIFE

AND EVENTUALLY BECOME THE MOST

CELEBRATED IN ALL OF AMERICAN

LITERATURE.

ON FEBRUARY 3, 1863, AT THE END

OF A DISPATCH WRITTEN

FROM CARSON CITY

TO THE TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE,

HE SIGNED HIMSELF "MARK TWAIN."

Ron Powers, writer:

THERE'S A LOT OF AMBIGUITY

IN THAT.

TWO FATHOMS--MARK TWAIN--

IS THE POINT AT WHICH DANGEROUS

WATER BECOMES SAFE WATER,

OR THE POINT AT WHICH SAFE WATER

BECOMES DANGEROUS WATER,

AND I THINK MARK TWAIN

WAS ALWAYS ON THAT MARGIN.

THAT'S WHERE HE LIVED--

ON THE EDGE--

BETWEEN THE LIGHTNESS

AND THE DARK, BETWEEN SAFETY

AND DANGER, BUT ALWAYS ON

THE FLOW OF THE RIVER.

Narrator: IN THE SPRING OF 1864,

SAM CLEMENS THOUGHT IT BEST

TO LEAVE VIRGINIA CITY.

AFTER BEING CHALLENGED TO A DUEL

HE WAS SURE HE'D LOSE, HE MOVED

ON TO WHAT HE CALLED "THE MOST

CORDIAL AND SOCIABLE CITY

IN THE UNION"--SAN FRANCISCO.

Man as Twain:

"AFTER THE SAGEBRUSH

AND ALKALI DESERTS OF NEVADA,

SAN FRANCISCO WAS PARADISE

TO ME.

I LIVED AT THE BEST HOTEL,

EXHIBITED MY CLOTHES IN THE MOST

CONSPICUOUS PLACES,

INFESTED THE OPERA.

I ATTENDED PRIVATE PARTIES

IN SUMPTUOUS EVENING DRESS,

SIMPERED AND AIRED MY GRACES

LIKE A BORN BEAU AND POLKAED

WITH A STEP PECULIAR TO MYSELF

AND THE KANGAROO."

MARK TWAIN.

Narrator: HE WENT TO WORK

FOR THE MORNING CALL

AT $40 A WEEK

AND WROTE OCCASIONAL PIECES

FOR A LITERARY JOURNAL,

THE GOLDEN ERA.

HE WAS SOON CAROUSING WITH

SAN FRANCISCO'S LEADING WRITERS

AND INTELLECTUALS--

AMBROSE BIERCE, JOAQUIN MILLER,

AND BRET HARTE.

BUT HE BEGAN HAVING TROUBLE

WITH HIS EDITOR.

WHEN TWAIN WROTE AN ARTICLE

DENOUNCING WHITE VIOLENCE

TOWARDS CHINESE IMMIGRANTS,

THE PAPER WOULDN'T RUN IT.

HE ATTACKED BRUTALITY

AND CORRUPTION

IN THE SAN FRANCISCO POLICE

DEPARTMENT, AND WHEN THAT STORY

WAS ALSO KILLED, HE SENT IT

TO HIS OLD NEWSPAPER,

THE TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE,

WHERE ITS PUBLICATION RESULTED

IN A LIBEL SUIT.

ONCE, HE WAS JAILED FOR

PUBLIC DRUNKENNESS.

IN OCTOBER OF 1864, HIS EDITOR

QUIETLY LET HIM GO.

Man as Twain: "FOR TWO MONTHS,

MY SOLE OCCUPATION WAS AVOIDING

ACQUAINTANCES, FOR DURING THAT

TIME, I DID NOT EARN A PENNY

OR BUY AN ARTICLE OF ANY KIND

OR PAY MY BOARD.

I BECAME VERY ADEPT

AT SLINKING.

I SLUNK FROM BACK STREET

TO BACK STREET.

I SLUNK AWAY FROM APPROACHING

FACES THAT LOOKED FAMILIAR.

AND AT MIDNIGHT,

AFTER WANDERINGS THAT WERE BUT

SLINKINGS AWAY FROM CHEERFULNESS

AND LIGHT, I SLUNK TO MY BED.

I FELT MEANER AND LOWLIER

AND MORE DESPICABLE

THAN THE WORMS.

DURING ALL THIS TIME, I HAD

BUT ONE PIECE OF MONEY--

A SILVER 10-CENT PIECE--

AND I HELD TO IT AND WOULD NOT

SPEND IT ON ANY ACCOUNT,

LEST THE CONSCIOUSNESS COMING

STRONG UPON ME THAT I WAS

ENTIRELY PENNILESS

MIGHT SUGGEST SUICIDE."

Narrator: NOTHING SEEMED TO

WORK OUT FOR HIM.

ONE DAY, HE PUT A REVOLVER

TO HIS HEAD AND ALMOST PULLED

THE TRIGGER.

"MANY TIMES, I HAVE BEEN SORRY

I DID NOT SUCCEED," HE WROTE

YEARS LATER, "BUT I WAS NEVER

ASHAMED OF HAVING TRIED."

THEN A FRIEND INVITED CLEMENS

TO COME AND TRY PROSPECTING

AGAIN IN THE SIERRA FOOTHILLS.

HE DID A LITTLE MINING

BUT SPENT MOST OF THE NEXT

3 MONTHS HUDDLED INSIDE AGAINST

THE WINTER RAINS.

SITTING NEAR THE STOVE

AT A PLACE CALLED ANGEL'S CAMP

IN CALAVERAS COUNTY, HE LISTENED

INTENTLY AS A MAN NAMED

BEN COON TOLD AN OLD STORY ABOUT

A GAMBLER WHO WOULD BET ON

ANYTHING, EVEN HIS JUMPING FROG.

TWAIN RECAST THE SIMPLE STORY

INTO A MUCH MORE ELABORATE

AND COMIC TALE AND, IN 1865,

SENT IT EAST TO THE MOST POPULAR

HUMORIST IN AMERICA,

ARTEMUS WARD, TO SEE WHAT

HE THOUGHT OF IT.

WARD LIKED IT AND PASSED

THE STORY ALONG TO A FRIEND,

WHO PUBLISHED IT

IN THE NEW YORK SATURDAY PRESS.

UP AND DOWN THE EAST COAST,

ALL ACROSS THE MIDWEST,

OTHER NEWSPAPERS REPRINTED IT,

AND HE GOT HIS VERY FIRST

GOOD REVIEW.

Man as reporter:

"THE FOREMOST AMONG

THE MERRY GENTLEMEN

OF THE CALIFORNIA PRESS

IS ONE WHO SIGNS HIMSELF

MARK TWAIN.

PERHAPS, IF HE WILL HUSBAND

HIS RESOURCES AND NOT KILL WITH

OVERWORK THE MENTAL GOOSE THAT

HAS GIVEN US THESE GOLDEN EGGS,

HE MAY ONE DAY RANK AMONG

THE BRIGHTEST OF OUR WITS."

THE NEW YORK ROUND TABLE.

Narrator: IN EARLY 1866,

MARK TWAIN LANDED

A PLUM ASSIGNMENT--

WRITING ABOUT HAWAII

FOR THE SACRAMENTO UNION.

IT WAS HIS FIRST GLIMPSE

OF THE WORLD BEYOND AMERICA,

AND HE LOVED IT.

"HAWAII," HE WROTE, "IS THE LAND

OF HAPPY CONTENTMENT--THE ONLY

SUPREMELY DELIGHTFUL PLACE

ON EARTH."

Man as Twain: "AT NOON,

I OBSERVED A BEVY

OF NUDE NATIVE YOUNG LADIES

BATHING IN THE SEA AND WENT

AND SAT DOWN ON THEIR CLOTHES

TO KEEP THEM FROM BEING STOLEN.

I BEGGED THEM TO COME OUT,

FOR THE SEA WAS RISING AND I WAS

SATISFIED THAT THEY WERE RUNNING

SOME RISK.

BUT THEY WERE NOT AFRAID

AND PRESENTLY WENT ON WITH

THEIR SPORT."

Narrator: TWAIN TOURED OAHU

BY HORSE, VISITED THE SUGAR

PLANTATIONS OF MAUI,

HIKED ACROSS THE VOLCANIC

CRATER OF MOUNT KILAUEA,

AND GENTLY LAMPOONED AMERICAN

MISSIONARIES' EFFORTS TO CONVERT

THE ISLANDERS.

"HOW SAD IT IS," HE WROTE,

"TO THINK OF THE MULTITUDES

WHO HAVE GONE TO THEIR GRAVES

ON THIS BEAUTIFUL ISLAND

AND NEVER KNEW THERE WAS

A HELL."

HIS REPORTS DELIGHTED READERS

ALL OVER CALIFORNIA, AND WHEN

HE GOT BACK TO SAN FRANCISCO,

A FRIEND SUGGESTED HE MAKE

THE MOST OF IT BY TURNING

HIS ARTICLES INTO LECTURES.

TWAIN WAS RELUCTANT AT FIRST.

THE PROSPECT OF FAILING BEFORE

A LIVE AUDIENCE TERRIFIED HIM,

BUT HE BORROWED $50 TO RENT

THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC

ON PINE STREET

AND ANOTHER $150 TO PRINT

ADVERTISEMENTS THAT WERE SOON

SHOWING UP ALL OVER

SAN FRANCISCO.

Man as Twain: "MARK TWAIN,

(HONOLULU CORRESPONDENT

OF THE SACRAMENTO UNION)

WILL DELIVER A LECTURE

ON THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.

A SPLENDID ORCHESTRA IS IN TOWN,

BUT HAS NOT BEEN ENGAGED.

ALSO, A DEN OF FEROCIOUS

WILD BEASTS WILL BE ON

EXHIBITION IN THE NEXT BLOCK.

MAGNIFICENT FIREWORKS WERE IN

CONTEMPLATION FOR THIS OCCASION,

BUT THE IDEA HAS BEEN ABANDONED.

A GRAND TORCHLIGHT PROCESSION

MAY BE EXPECTED; IN FACT,

THE PUBLIC ARE PRIVILEGED

TO EXPECT WHATEVER THEY PLEASE.

DOORS OPEN AT 7 O'CLOCK.

THE TROUBLE TO BEGIN

AT 8 O'CLOCK."

Narrator: TWAIN GOT TO THE EMPTY

THEATER EARLY.

HE WAS SO NERVOUS, HE SAT

BACKSTAGE IN THE DARK

FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF,

CONTEMPLATING HIS IMPENDING

FAILURE.

Man as Twain: "BEFORE I WELL

KNEW WHAT I WAS ABOUT, I WAS IN

THE MIDDLE OF THE STAGE,

BEWILDERED BY THE FIERCE GLARE

OF THE LIGHTS AND QUAKING IN

EVERY LIMB WITH A TERROR

THAT SEEMED LIKE TO TAKE MY LIFE

AWAY.

THE HOUSE WAS FULL--

AISLES AND ALL!

THE TUMULT IN MY HEART AND BRAIN

AND LEGS CONTINUED A FULL MINUTE

BEFORE I COULD GAIN ANY COMMAND

OVER MYSELF.

THEN, LITTLE BY LITTLE,

MY FRIGHT MELTED AWAY,

AND I BEGAN TO TALK."

Narrator: HE SPOKE FOR A LITTLE

OVER AN HOUR TO A CROWD THAT

WAS MESMERIZED BY HIS POWERS

OF DESCRIPTION AND CONVULSED

BY HIS DEADPAN HUMOR.

Man as Twain: "HOW SAD IT IS

TO THINK OF THE MULTITUDES

WHO HAVE GONE TO THEIR GRAVES

IN THIS BEAUTIFUL ISLAND AND

NEVER KNEW THERE WAS A HELL."

[LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE]

Narrator: THE EVENING

WAS A TRIUMPH,

EARNING TWAIN $400,

MORE THAN HE HAD EARNED

IN A MONTH AS A RIVERBOAT PILOT.

SOON HE WAS REPEATING

HIS PERFORMANCE ALL ACROSS

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

AND WESTERN NEVADA.

Ron Powers, writer:

HE WAS AN UNINTENTIONAL

GENIUS OF THE STAGE.

HE HAD THIS SHAMBLING GAIT,

AND HE HAD THIS BEWILDERING

DRAWL.

HIS MOTHER CALLED IT

"SAMMY'S LONG TALK."

SOME PEOPLE THOUGHT HE WAS DRUNK

WHEN HE WANDERED OUT ONSTAGE

AND KIND OF MUMBLED ABOUT

LIKE THIS.

BUT AS THE ACT WENT ON--

AS THE LECTURE WENT ON--

THEY BEGAN TO SEE THAT

THE PAUSES WERE THE GREAT

FORMULATIONS.

THE PAUSES WERE THE GREAT

PRELUDES TO THE CASCADE

OF HUMOR, SO THE SILENCE ONSTAGE

LED TO SOMETHING ELSE,

AND AS HE STARTED TO UNDERSTAND

THAT HIMSELF, HE DEVELOPED IT

INTO A GREAT ART FORM.

HE UNDERSTOOD THE PAUSE.

AND ONE NIGHT, HE DECIDED TO

TAKE IT AS FAR AS IT WOULD GO.

HE WALKED OUT ONSTAGE

AND LOOKED AT THE AUDIENCE...

AND LOOKED AT THE AUDIENCE...

AND LOOKED AT THE AUDIENCE.

AND THE SILENCE WENT ON,

THE TENSION BUILT, UNTIL SOMEONE

IN THE CROWD SNICKERED.

AND WHEN THAT HAPPENED,

THE CASCADES OF LAUGHTER CAME,

AND HE KNEW THAT THE AUDIENCE

WAS HIS.

[APPLAUSE]

Narrator: ON JUNE 8, 1867,

THE STEAMSHIP QUAKER CITY

SET SAIL FROM NEW YORK.

IT REPRESENTED SOMETHING

ENTIRELY NEW--THE VERY FIRST

FULL-SCALE PLEASURE CRUISE--

A 5-MONTH VOYAGE

TO THE HOLY LAND AND THE MAJOR

PORTS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.

MOST OF THE 70 PASSENGERS ABOARD

WERE MIDDLE-CLASS

MIDWESTERNERS--

PROSPEROUS, PROTESTANT,

AND SO PIOUS THAT ONE ASKED

THE CAPTAIN IF THE SHIP COULD

HALT ITS PROGRESS IN MID-OCEAN

IN HONOR OF THE SABBATH.

ONE PASSENGER, HOWEVER,

SEEMED UNLIKE THE REST.

MARK TWAIN'S $1,250 PASSAGE

HAD BEEN PAID BY

THE ALTA CALIFORNIA

AND TWO NEW YORK PAPERS

THAT HAD PROMISED $20 A LETTER

FOR REGULAR REPORTS ON

THE HOLY LAND TOUR.

TWAIN WAS EAGER TO SEE

THE OLD WORLD BUT BEMUSED

BY HIS FELLOW PASSENGERS.

Man as Twain:

"THERE WAS A LITTLE

DIFFERENCE OF OPINION

BETWEEN US, NOTHING MORE.

THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD'VE

SAVED SODOM AND GOMORRAH,

AND I THOUGHT IT WOULD'VE BEEN

UNWISE TO RISK MONEY UPON IT."

Narrator: HE DID HIS BEST

TO FIT IN, JOINING NIGHTLY

READINGS FROM GUIDEBOOKS,

PLAYING SHUFFLEBOARD ON DECK,

TAKING PART IN DEBATES

FOR WHICH HE SUGGESTED

TOPICS OF HIS OWN,

SUCH AS, "IS A TAIL ABSOLUTELY

NECESSARY TO THE COMFORT

AND CONVENIENCE OF A DOG?"

HE EVEN ATTENDED REGULAR

PRAYER SERVICES, ADDING HIS

VOICE TO THE CHOIR.

BUT HE STILL PREFERRED LATE

EVENINGS IN HIS CABIN--DRINKING,

SMOKING, SWEARING, AND PLAYING

CARDS WITH A HANDFUL OF OTHER

MEN WHO CALLED THEMSELVES

"THE QUAKER CITY NIGHTHAWKS."

Man as Twain: "WE WISH TO LEARN

ALL THE CURIOUS OUTLANDISH WAYS

OF ALL THE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

SO THAT WE CAN SHOW OFF

AND ASTONISH PEOPLE

WHEN WE GET HOME.

WE WISH TO EXCITE THE ENVY

OF OUR OWN UNTRAVELED FRIENDS

WITH OUR STRANGE FOREIGN

FASHIONS WHICH WE CAN'T

SHAKE OFF.

THE GENTLE READER WILL NEVER,

NEVER KNOW WHAT A CONSUMMATE ASS

HE CAN BECOME UNTIL HE GOES

ABROAD.

I SPEAK NOW, OF COURSE,

IN THE SUPPOSITION THAT

THE GENTLE READER HAS NOT BEEN

ABROAD AND THEREFORE IS NOT

ALREADY A CONSUMMATE ASS."

Russell Banks, writer:

HE'S NOT THE FIRST AMERICAN

WRITER TO TRAVEL TO EUROPE

AND THE MIDDLE EAST

AND REPORT BACK,

BUT HE'S THE FIRST ONE WHO

TRAVELS ABROAD AND TRAVELS

AS THOUGH AMERICA WERE

THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE.

UP UNTIL THAT POINT, WRITERS

TRAVELED ABROAD TO GO

TO THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE,

BUT TWAIN IS THE FIRST ONE

WHO TAKES THE CENTER WITH HIM.

Narrator: TWAIN SAW IT ALL--

GIBRALTAR, TANGIERS, MARSEILLES,

AND A SIDE TRIP TO PARIS,

WHERE HE WENT TO SEE

YOUNG WOMEN DANCE THE CANCAN.

"I PLACED MY HANDS BEFORE

MY FACE FOR VERY SHAME," HE TOLD

HIS READERS, "BUT I LOOKED

THROUGH MY FINGERS."

THEN IT WAS ON TO ITALY, WHERE

HE POKED FUN AT EVERYTHING.

Man as Twain:

"I USED TO WORSHIP THE MIGHTY

GENIUS OF MICHAEL ANGELO,

BUT I DO NOT WANT MICHAEL ANGELO

FOR BREAKFAST, FOR LUNCHEON,

FOR DINNER, FOR TEA, FOR SUPPER,

FOR BETWEEN MEALS.

I LIKE A CHANGE OCCASIONALLY.

IN GENOA, HE DESIGNED

EVERYTHING.

IN FLORENCE, HE PAINTED

EVERYTHING.

IN PISA, HE DESIGNED EVERYTHING

BUT THE OLD SHOT TOWER,

AND THEY WOULD HAVE ATTRIBUTED

THAT TO HIM IF IT HAD NOT BEEN

SO AWFULLY OUT

OF THE PERPENDICULAR."

Narrator: ON SEPTEMBER 10,

THE TOUR REACHED BEIRUT,

WHERE TWAIN AND 7 COMPANIONS

DECIDED THEIR PILGRIMAGE TO

THE HOLY LAND WOULD BE MORE

MEMORABLE IF THEY PROCEEDED

BY PACK TRAIN.

Man as Twain:

"IN SYRIA, AT THE HEADWATERS

OF THE JORDAN, A CAMEL TOOK

CHARGE OF MY OVERCOAT WHILE

THE TENTS WERE BEING PITCHED

AND EXAMINED IT WITH A CRITICAL

EYE ALL OVER WITH AS MUCH

INTEREST AS IF HE HAD AN IDEA

OF GETTING ONE MADE LIKE IT.

AND THEN, AFTER HE WAS DONE

FIGURING ON IT AS AN ARTICLE OF

APPAREL, HE BEGAN TO CONTEMPLATE

IT AS AN ARTICLE OF DIET.

HE PUT HIS FOOT ON IT

AND LIFTED ONE OF THE SLEEVES

OUT WITH HIS TEETH AND CHEWED

AND CHEWED AT IT, GRADUALLY

TAKING IT IN, AND ALL THE WHILE

OPENING AND CLOSING HIS EYES

IN A KIND OF RELIGIOUS ECSTASY,

AS IF HE HAD NEVER TASTED

ANYTHING AS GOOD AS AN OVERCOAT

BEFORE IN HIS LIFE.

THEN MY NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENCE

DROPPED OUT, AND HE TOOK

A CHANCE IN THAT,

BUT HE WAS TREADING ON DANGEROUS

GROUND NOW.

HE BEGAN TO COME ACROSS SOLID

WISDOM IN THOSE DOCUMENTS

THAT WAS RATHER WEIGHTY ON HIS

STOMACH AND OCCASIONALLY,

HE WOULD TAKE A JOKE THAT WOULD

SHAKE HIM UP TILL IT LOOSENED

HIS TEETH.

IT WAS GETTING TO BE PERILOUS

TIMES WITH HIM, BUT HE HELD

HIS GRIP WITH GOOD COURAGE,

TILL AT LAST HE BEGAN TO

STUMBLE ON STATEMENTS THAT NOT

EVEN A CAMEL WOULD SWALLOW

WITH IMPUNITY.

HE BEGAN TO GAG AND GASP,

AND HIS EYES TO STAND OUT,

AND HIS FORELEGS TO SPREAD,

AND IN ABOUT A QUARTER

OF A MINUTE, HE FELL OVER

AS STIFF AS A CARPENTER'S

WORKBENCH AND DIED A DEATH

OF INDESCRIBABLE AGONY.

I WENT AND PULLED THE MANUSCRIPT

OUT OF HIS MOUTH AND FOUND THAT

THE SENSITIVE CREATURE

HAD CHOKED TO DEATH ON ONE

OF THE MILDEST AND GENTLEST

STATEMENTS OF FACT I EVER LAID

BEFORE A TRUSTING PUBLIC."

MARK TWAIN.

Narrator: IN PALESTINE,

THEY VISITED NAZARETH

AND THE DEAD SEA,

BETHLEHEM, AND JERUSALEM.

FOR HIS READERS BACK HOME,

HE POINTED OUT THAT WHILE

IT TOOK MOSES 40 YEARS TO CROSS

THE DESERT FROM EGYPT

TO THE PROMISED LAND,

THE OVERLAND STAGE COULD'VE

DONE IT IN 36 HOURS.

AND WHEN A BOATMAN CHARGED $8.00

FOR A SHORT SAIL ON THE SEA

OF GALILEE, TWAIN ASKED,

"DO YOU WONDER NOW THAT CHRIST

WALKED?"

IN OCTOBER OF 1867, THE TOUR

CAME TO AN END,

AND THE QUAKER CITY SET SAIL

FOR AMERICA, WHERE MARK TWAIN

HOPED TO CONTINUE LECTURING

AND TURN HIS DISPATCHES

INTO A BOOK.

Man as Twain:

"I WANT A GOOD WIFE.

I WANT A COUPLE OF THEM IF THEY

ARE PARTICULARLY GOOD.

IF I WERE SETTLED, I WOULD QUIT

ALL NONSENSE AND SWINDLE SOME

POOR GIRL INTO MARRYING ME,

BUT I WOULDN'T EXPECT TO BE

WORTHY OF HER.

I WOULDN'T HAVE A GIRL

THAT I WAS WORTHY OF.

SHE WOULDN'T DO.

SHE WOULDN'T BE RESPECTABLE

ENOUGH."

Narrator: IN THE SUMMER

OF 1868, CLEMENS TRAVELED

TO ELMIRA, NEW YORK,

TO VISIT THE HOME OF A FRIEND

FROM THE QUAKER CITY TOUR--

CHARLEY LANGDON.

EVERYTHING ABOUT THE LANGDONS

IMPRESSED CLEMENS.

CHARLEY'S FATHER,

JERVIS LANGDON, HAD MADE HIMSELF

A MILLIONAIRE BY CORNERING

THE LOCAL COAL BUSINESS DURING

THE CIVIL WAR.

BUT LANGDON WAS AS PRINCIPLED

AS HE WAS PROSPEROUS.

BEFORE THE WAR,

HE HAD BEEN A CONDUCTOR

ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.

WHEN FREDERICK DOUGLASS PASSED

THROUGH NEW YORK STATE IN FLIGHT

FROM HIS MASTER, THE LANGDONS

OFFERED HIM SHELTER

IN THEIR HOME.

CLEMENS HAD NEVER MET ANYONE

LIKE THE LANGDONS,

BUT THE MEMBER OF THE FAMILY

HE WAS DRAWN TO THE MOST

WAS THEIR 22-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER

OLIVIA--A HIGHLY RELIGIOUS,

FRAIL, AND SERIOUS-MINDED

YOUNG WOMAN.

Man as Twain:

"LIVY IS THE BEST GIRL

IN ALL THE WORLD AND THE MOST

SENSIBLE.

SHE IS THE SWEETEST

AND THE GENTLEST

AND THE DAINTIEST

AND THE MOST MODEST

AND UNPRETENTIOUS

AND THE WISEST IN ALL THINGS

SHE SHOULD BE WISE IN

AND THE MOST IGNORANT IN ALL

MATTERS IT WOULD NOT GRACE HER

TO KNOW."

Narrator: SAM CLEMENS HAD

NEVER WANTED ANYTHING SO MUCH

AS HE NOW WANTED TO MARRY LIVY.

"I TAKE AS MUCH PRIDE IN HER

BRAINS," HE WROTE A FRIEND,

"AS IN HER BEAUTY."

AND JUST A FEW DAYS AFTER

HE GOT TO ELMIRA,

HE IMPETUOUSLY PROPOSED.

SHE GENTLY TURNED HIM AWAY,

BUT SHE AGREED THAT THEY COULD

WRITE TO ONE ANOTHER

AS "BROTHER" AND "SISTER."

CLEMENS BEGAN WRITING TO HER

THE VERY NEXT DAY AND DID NOT

STOP FOR 17 MONTHS--

184 LETTERS, EACH CAREFULLY

NUMBERED BY LIVY, WHO WAS

SLOWLY BUT SURELY FALLING

IN LOVE WITH HIM.

WHEN THE LANGDONS INVITED HIM

BACK FOR THANKSGIVING,

CLEMENS TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY

FORMALLY TO ASK JERVIS LANGDON

FOR HIS DAUGHTER'S HAND.

THE LANGDONS WERE STUNNED

BUT GAVE THEIR CONDITIONAL

APPROVAL, PROVIDED THAT HE COULD

SUPPLY THEM WITH THE NAMES

OF FRIENDS OUT WEST WHO COULD

ATTEST TO HIS CHARACTER.

HIS FRIENDS DID NOT HELP

HIS CAUSE.

Man as Twain:

"THEY SAID WITH ONE ACCORD

THAT I GOT DRUNK OFTENER

THAN WAS NECESSARY AND THAT

I WAS WILD AND GODLESS, IDLE,

LECHEROUS, AND A DISCONTENTED

AND AN UNSETTLED ROVER,

AND THEY COULD NOT RECOMMEND

ANY GIRL OF HIGH CHARACTER

AND SOCIAL POSITION TO MARRY ME.

BUT AS I HAD ALREADY SAID

ALL THAT ABOUT MYSELF

BEFOREHAND, THERE WAS NOTHING

SHOCKING OR SURPRISING ABOUT IT

TO THE FAMILY."

Narrator: DESPITE THE DUBIOUS

CHARACTER REFERENCES,

JERVIS LANGDON HAD GROWN

TO LIKE CLEMENS,

AND HE FINALLY GAVE HIS BLESSING

TO THE ENGAGEMENT.

"I AM SO HAPPY," CLEMENS WROTE

TO A FRIEND, "I WANT TO SCALP

SOMEBODY."

MEANWHILE, LIVY SET OUT

TO REFORM HER FIANCE.

AS HE CONTINUED TO LECTURE

AND WAIT IMPATIENTLY FOR HIS

BOOK ABOUT THE QUAKER CITY TOUR

TO BE PUBLISHED, SHE SENT HIM

COPIES OF THE REVEREND

HENRY WARD BEECHER'S

WEEKLY SERMONS, WHICH, HE SAID,

HE READ OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

HE VOWED TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN,

TO STOP SWEARING, TO ABANDON

EVEN THE SOCIAL DRINKING

SHE HAD RELUCTANTLY AGREED

TO PERMIT HIM.

Man as Twain:

"I DO NOT KNOW OF ANYTHING

I COULD REFUSE TO DO

IF YOU WANTED IT DONE.

I AM REASONABLY AFRAID THAT

YOU'LL STOP ME FROM SMOKING

SOMEDAY, BUT IF EVER YOU DO,

YOU WILL DO IT WITH SUCH HAPPY

GRACE THAT I SHALL BE SWINDLED

INTO THE NOTION THAT I DIDN'T

WANT TO SMOKE ANYMORE, ANYHOW."

Narrator: IN JULY OF 1869,

MARK TWAIN'S

THE INNOCENTS ABROAD

APPEARED AT LAST.

IT WOULD SELL 100,000 COPIES

IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS.

ONLY HARRIET BEECHER STOWE'S

UNCLE TOM'S CABIN HAD SOLD MOE

IN SO LITTLE TIME.

THE FORMER PRINTER'S APPRENTICE

HAD BECOME THE BEST-SELLING

AUTHOR IN AMERICA.

INNOCENTS ABROAD

WAS A SUBSCRIPTION BOOK,

SOLD DOOR-TO-DOOR BY AN ARMY

OF SALESMEN WHO TOOK ORDERS

FROM PEOPLE WHO RARELY VISITED

BOOKSTORES--TRADESMEN,

SHOPKEEPERS, FARMERS LIVING

MILES FROM TOWN.

Hamlin Hill, Twain scholar:

HE TOLD A CRITIC,

"I NEVER TRIED TO CULTIVATE

THE CULTIVATED CLASSES.

I ALWAYS WENT FOR BIGGER GAME--

THE MASSES,"

AND HE GOT THEM.

HE WROTE IN HIS JOURNAL,

"GREAT BOOKS ARE WINE,

MY BOOKS ARE WATER"--

AND THEN YOU CAN ALMOST HEAR

THE PAUSE AND SEE THE WINK--

"BUT EVERYBODY DRINKS WATER."

Narrator: LITERARY CRITICS

RARELY BOTHERED EVEN TO REVIEW

SUBSCRIPTION BOOKS, BUT TWAIN

COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE

PLEASED WHEN HIS BOOK WAS

PRAISED BY THE EMINENT

WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS, AN EDITOR

OF THE PRESTIGIOUS JOURNAL

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY.

THE TWO MEN WOULD BECOME

CLOSE FRIENDS.

WITH HIS WEDDING DAY

APPROACHING, TWAIN WENT RIGHT

TO WORK ON A NEW BOOK--

AN ACCOUNT OF HIS OWN YOUTHFUL

ADVENTURES IN THE WEST--

CALLED ROUGHING IT.

AND HIS PUBLISHER

NOW BEGAN PROMOTING HIM

AS "THE PEOPLE'S AUTHOR."

SAMUEL CLEMENS AND LIVY LANGDON

WERE MARRIED IN HER FATHER'S

PARLOR ON FEBRUARY 2, 1870.

THE WEDDING PARTY BOARDED

A PRIVATE RAILROAD CAR FOR

BUFFALO, WHERE, THANKS TO A LOAN

FROM HIS FATHER-IN-LAW,

CLEMENS WAS NOW PART-OWNER

OF A NEWSPAPER,

THE BUFFALO EXPRESS.

THEN JERVIS LANGDON STUNNED HIS

NEW SON-IN-LAW BY PRESENTING HIM

WITH A HANDSOME HOME--

COMPLETELY FURNISHED AND STAFFED

WITH A COOK, HOUSEMAID,

AND COACHMAN, WHOSE UNIFORM,

CLEMENS SAID, COST MORE THAN ANY

SUIT OF CLOTHES HE'D EVER OWNED.

HE COULD NOT BELIEVE HIS LUCK.

Man as Twain:

"BEHOLD, I HAVE AT THE MOMENT

THE ONLY SWEETHEART I EVER

LOVED, AND BLESS HER OLD HEART,

SHE IS LYING ASLEEP UPSTAIRS

IN A BED I SLEEP IN EVERY NIGHT,

AND FOR 4 WHOLE DAYS, SHE HAS

BEEN MRS. SAMUEL L. CLEMENS."

Narrator: "WE ARE TWO AS

HAPPY PEOPLE AS YOU EVER SAW,"

LIVY WROTE.

"OUR DAYS SEEM TO BE MADE UP

OF ONLY BRIGHT SUNLIGHT

WITH NO SHADOW IN THEM."

BUT THAT SUMMER, JERVIS LANGDON

DIED OF STOMACH CANCER.

LIVY, NOW PREGNANT, SUFFERED

A NERVOUS COLLAPSE.

HER CLOSEST FRIEND CAME TO CARE

FOR HER AND DIED OF TYPHOID

FEVER IN THE CLEMENS' OWN BED.

IN NOVEMBER, SHE GAVE BIRTH

PREMATURELY TO A SON.

THEY NAMED HIM LANGDON

AFTER HER FATHER.

THE BABY WEIGHED JUST 4 POUNDS

AT BIRTH AND REMAINED SICKLY--

SLOW TO TEETHE, TO WALK,

TO TALK, WAS PLAGUED BY

FREQUENT COUGHS AND COLDS--

A CONSTANT SOURCE OF WORRY

FOR HIS DOTING PARENTS.

IN 1871, CLEMENS DECIDED

TO LEAVE BUFFALO AND START OVER.

HE PUT UP FOR SALE BOTH

HIS HOUSE AND HIS INTEREST

IN THE BUFFALO EXPRESS AND MOVED

TO THE MOST PROSPEROUS CITY

IN AMERICA--

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

Man as Twain:

"OF ALL THE BEAUTIFUL TOWNS

IT HAS BEEN MY FORTUNE TO SEE,

HARTFORD IS THE CHIEF.

IT IS A CITY

OF 40,000 INHABITANTS

AND SEEMS TO BE COMPOSED ALMOST

ENTIRELY OF DWELLING HOUSES

SCATTERED ALONG THE BROAD,

STRAIGHT STREETS.

EVERYWHERE THE EYE TURNS,

IT IS BLESSED WITH A VISION OF

REFRESHING GREEN.

YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT BEAUTY IS

IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN HERE."

Narrator: THE EDITOR

CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER

LIVED IN HARTFORD.

SO DID HARRIET BEECHER STOWE

AS WELL AS HER SUFFRAGIST SISTER

ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER,

WHOSE HOUSE SAM AND LIVY RENTED

TILL THEY COULD BEGIN TO BUILD

ONE OF THEIR OWN.

IN MARCH OF 1872,

THEIR SECOND CHILD,

OLIVIA SUSAN CLEMENS,

WAS BORN.

UNLIKE LANGDON, SHE WAS HEALTHY;

"A FIVE-POUNDER,"

CLEMENS TOLD FRIENDS,

"AS FAT AS BUTTER

AND WHOLLY FREE FROM

INFELICITIES OF ANY KIND."

HE AND LIVY

WOULD CALL HER SUSY.

BUT JUST 9 WEEKS AFTER HER

BIRTH, TRAGEDY STRUCK AGAIN.

19-MONTH-OLD LANGDON CONTRACTED

DIPHTHERIA AND DIED IN HIS

MOTHER'S ARMS.

JUST AS HE HAD BLAMED HIMSELF

FOR THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER

HENRY, CLEMENS HELD HIMSELF

RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS SON'S DEATH.

HE CLAIMED HE HAD CARELESSLY

ALLOWED HIM TO BECOME CHILLED

DURING A CARRIAGE RIDE.

LIVY WAS DEVASTATED.

"I FEEL SO OFTEN AS IF MY PATH

IS TO BE LINED WITH GRAVES,"

SHE WROTE.

SHE SAID SHE NOW FELT "ALMOST

PERFECTLY COLD TOWARD GOD,"

AND NO LONGER WENT REGULARLY

TO CHURCH.

CLEMENS WOULD COME TO BLAME

HIMSELF FOR THAT, TOO.

William Styron, writer: IF HE

WERE MERELY THE STAND-UP COMIC

OF HIS TIME,

THE ARTEMUS WARD, THE MAN IN

SEARCH OF AN EASY LAUGH,

HE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A VERY

GOOD WRITER.

BUT HIS EXUBERANT AND ALMOST

IRREPRESSIBLE HUMOR IS ALWAYS

COLORED BY THIS UNDERSTANDING

THAT LIFE IS NOT JUST ONE BIG

YUK, BUT IS A SERIOUS EVENT IN

WHICH HORRIBLE THINGS HAPPEN.

I THINK THAT--THAT HE HAD

A--A PERHAPS A DARK, DEPRESSIVE

STREAK, WHICH IS NOT UNCOMMON

AMONG WRITERS, AND THAT THIS WAS

THE ELEMENT IN HIS PERSONALITY

THAT BALANCED OFF THIS NEED TO

BE AMUSING AND ENTERTAINING

AND GAVE DEPTH TO HIS WORK.

Man as Twain: "SOME MEN WORSHIP

RANK, SOME WORSHIP HEROES,

SOME WORSHIP POWER,

SOME WORSHIP GOD,

AND OVER THESE IDEALS THEY

DISPUTE AND CANNOT UNITE--

BUT THEY ALL WORSHIP MONEY."

MARK TWAIN.

Narrator: THE 1870s WAS A TIME

OF UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH

AND PROSPERITY IN AMERICA.

EVERYONE SEEMED CONSUMED WITH

MAKING MONEY, WHILE POWERFUL NEW

INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS GOT

WHATEVER THEY WANTED FROM

WASHINGTON.

IN 1873, TWAIN AND HIS HARTFORD

NEIGHBOR, CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER,

COLLABORATED ON A NOVEL CALLED

THE GILDED AGE--

A CAUSTIC ASSAULT ON CORRUPT

POLITICS AND A BITING SATIRE ON

THE GREED AND GET-RICH-QUICK

FEVER OF THE ERA.

MARK TWAIN GAVE THE GILDED AGE

ITS NAME, BUT SAM CLEMENS

PERSONIFIED IT.

NO ONE WAS MORE CONSTANTLY ON

THE LOOKOUT FOR SCHEMES THAT

WOULD MAKE HIM WEALTHIER THAN HE

ALREADY WAS.

NO ONE LOVED MONEY

AND THE COMFORT AND LUXURY IT

COULD BUY MORE THAN HE DID.

IN 1873, SAM AND LIVY BOUGHT

A 5-ACRE PLOT ON

FARMINGTON AVENUE, HIRED ONE OF

THE NATION'S LEADING ARCHITECTS,

EDWARD TUCKERMAN POTTER,

AND INSTRUCTED HIM TO BUILD THEM

A HOUSE UNLIKE ANY OTHER HOUSE

IN HARTFORD OR ANYWHERE ELSE.

Man as Twain: "I HAVE BEEN

BULLYRAGGED ALL DAY

BY THE BUILDER, BY HIS

FOREMAN, BY THE ARCHITECT, BY

THE TAPESTRY DEVIL WHO IS TO

UPHOLSTER THE FURNITURE, BY

THE IDIOT WHO IS PUTTING DOWN

THE CARPETS, BY THE SCOUNDREL

WHO IS SETTING UP THE BILLIARD

TABLE AND HAS LEFT THE BALLS IN

NEW YORK, BY A BOOK AGENT WHOSE

BODY IS IN THE BACKYARD

AND THE CORONER NOTIFIED.

JUST THINK OF THIS GOING ON

THE WHOLE DAY LONG, AND I AM

A MAN WHO LOATHES DETAILS WITH

ALL MY HEART!

BUT I HAVEN'T LOST MY TEMPER."

Narrator: IT WAS EVERYTHING

HE HAD HOPED FOR.

"MR. CLEMENS," LIVY WROTE,

"SEEMS TO GLORY IN HIS SENSE OF

POSSESSION."

THERE WERE 3 FLOORS, 19 ROOMS,

TURRETS AND BALCONIES WITH

SPLENDID VIEWS OF

THE SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE

AND AN ELONGATED PORCH FOR

SUMMER AFTERNOONS.

IN THE MASTER BEDROOM,

SAM AND LIVY INSTALLED WHAT HE

CALLED "THE MOST COMFORTABLE

BEDSTEAD THAT EVER WAS, WITH

SPACE ENOUGH IN IT FOR A FAMILY,

AND CARVED ANGELS ENOUGH," HE

ADDED, "TO BRING PEACE TO

THE SLEEPERS, AND PLEASANT

DREAMS."

THE FAMILY WAS GROWING.

CLARA, A SECOND HEALTHY GIRL,

HAD BEEN BORN IN 1874.

HER PROUD FATHER CALLED HER

"THE GREAT AMERICAN GIANTESS."

JEAN WOULD BE BORN 6

YEARS LATER.

THE GIRLS HAD THEIR OWN NURSERY

AND SOON TOOK OVER THEIR

FATHER'S STUDY, TRANSFORMING IT

INTO THEIR SCHOOLROOM.

HE MOVED HIS DESK TO THE THIRD

FLOOR TO THE BIG BILLIARD ROOM,

WHERE HE COULD SMOKE AND WRITE

AND ENTERTAIN HIS FRIENDS

WITHOUT FEAR OF BEING DISTURBED.

SPEAKING TUBES HIDDEN IN

THE WALLS ALLOWED ANY OF

THE 7 SERVANTS TO BE SUMMONED

FROM ANY ROOM.

THE LIBRARY WAS THE HEART OF

THE HOUSE.

HERE, HE READ ALOUD TO

THE GIRLS AND WAS OFTEN ASKED

TO MAKE UP A BRAND-NEW BEDTIME

STORY FOR THEM, STARTING WITH

THE CAT AT ONE END OF

THE MANTELPIECE AND THEN

INCORPORATING EVERY ITEM IN TURN

UNTIL HE REACHED THE OTHER END

AND THE WATERCOLOR PORTRAIT OF

A YOUNG GIRL HIS DAUGHTERS HAD

NAMED "EMMELINE."

Man as Twain: "I HAD TO START

ALWAYS WITH THE CAT

AND FINISH WITH EMMELINE.

I WAS NEVER ALLOWED

THE REFRESHMENT OF A CHANGE,

END FOR END.

IT WAS NOT PERMISSIBLE TO

INTRODUCE AN ORNAMENT INTO

THE STORY OUT OF ITS PLACE IN

THE PROCESSION.

THESE BRIC-A-BRACS WERE NEVER

ALLOWED A PEACEFUL DAY.

THEY KNEW NO EXISTENCE BUT

A MONOTONOUS CAREER OF VIOLENCE

AND BLOODSHED."

Narrator: THERE WAS A STEADY

STREAM OF GUESTS

AT MARK TWAIN'S TABLE--

CLOSE FRIENDS LIKE

WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS

AND THE REVEREND JOE TWICHELL,

BUT ALSO MORE FAMOUS VISITORS

LIKE WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN,

THE ACTOR EDWIN BOOTH,

AND THE EXPLORER

HENRY M. STANLEY--

WHO CAME TO DINE AND TO ENJOY

HEARING THEIR HOST TELL STORIES.

Ron Powers, writer: I THINK

THE HARTFORD HOUSE

TELLS US ABOUT HIS DIVIDED

PERSONALITY.

ON THE ONE HAND, HE WANTED TO BE

THE RUSTIC FROM THE INTERIOR

FLINGING HARPOONS INTO

THE FLANKS OF THE MIGHTY, AND ON

THE OTHER HAND, HE WANTED TO BE

THE MIGHTY.

HE WANTED THAT WEALTH.

HE WANTED TO ACHIEVE WHAT HIS

FATHER HADN'T ACHIEVED, WHAT HIS

OLDER BROTHER HADN'T ACHIEVED.

AT THE SAME TIME, HE WAS

BURDENED WITH A KIND OF

AN HONESTY ABOUT THE CORRUPTING

POWER OF WEALTH.

AND SO THE HOUSE IN HARTFORD

SHOWS US THIS GREAT DIVIDED SOUL

RICOCHETING BACK AND FORTH

BETWEEN INDULGING THE LUXURIES

THAT HIS WRITING HAD BROUGHT HIM

AND FEELING A KIND OF DISGUST

FOR--FOR THE STERILIZATION

OF IT.

Narrator: EVENTUALLY,

CLEMENS WOULD DECIDE

HIS HOUSE WAS STILL NOT

GRAND ENOUGH AND HAD ITS

DOWNSTAIRS REDONE BY

LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY WITH

A STAINED-GLASS WINDOW,

A MARBLE FLOOR IN THE ENTRANCE

HALLS, AND ORNATE BRASSWORK

SPECIALLY MADE IN INDIA.

IT ALL COST TOO MUCH.

NEITHER HIS ROYALTIES NOR LIVY'S

INHERITANCE COULD PAY THE BILLS

THAT CONTINUED TO PILE UP.

AS A RESULT, TWAIN WAS FORCED TO

LEAVE HOME AND RETURN TO

THE ARDUOUS LECTURE CIRCUIT--

SOMETHING HE HAD HOPED HE WOULD

NOT HAVE TO DO AGAIN.

[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS]

Man as Twain: "WORCESTER,

MASSACHUSETTS.

LIVY DARLING, I AM JUST IN FROM

THE LECTURE, JUST IN FROM

TALKING TO 1,700 OF

THE STAIDEST PURITANICAL

PEOPLE YOU EVER SAW,

ONE OF THE HARDEST GANGS TO

MOVE THAT EVER WAS.

I'M GOING TO BED.

I'M DISGUSTED.

I DO HATE LECTURING, AND I SHALL

TRY HARD TO HAVE AS LITTLE AS

POSSIBLE OF IT TO DO HEREAFTER."

"COLUMBUS, OHIO.

LIVY DARLING, RODE ALL DAY IN

A SMOKING CAR YESTERDAY,

STOPPING EVERY 30 YARDS.

ARRIVED HERE IN A RAINSTORM,

JUMPED INTO EVENING DRESS

IN A DESPERATE HURRY, AND CAME

BEFORE A FULL OPERA HOUSE OF

THE HANDSOMEST PEOPLE YOU EVER

SAW, AND MADE THEM SHOUT

AND TORE THEM ALL TO PIECES TILL

HALF PAST 10:00."

[APPLAUSE]

Narrator: BACK IN HARTFORD,

LIFE AS MRS. MARK TWAIN

WAS NEVER EASY.

LIVY CLEMENS REMAINED FRAGILE,

SUBJECT TO A HOST OF ILLNESSES

THAT KEPT HER IN BED FOR WEEKS

AT A TIME AND OFTEN LEFT ALONE

FOR MONTHS TO CARE FOR

THE CHILDREN.

Woman as Livy Clemens: "DEAR

MOTHER, I GET A LITTLE

HOMESICK TO SEE YOU ONCE IN

A WHILE.

TONIGHT I SHOULD LIKE TO PUT MY

HEAD IN YOUR LAP AND CRY JUST

A LITTLE BIT.

I WANT TO BE SOMEBODY'S BABY.

I HAVE SERVANTS TO MANAGE, I

HAVE A GLORIOUS HUSBAND TO TRY

AND BE A WOMAN FOR,

BUT SOMETIMES I WOULD LIKE TO

LIE DOWN AND GIVE IT ALL UP.

I FEEL SO INCOMPETENT FOR

EVERYTHING.

I COME SO VERY FAR SHORT, YET I

THINK I DO TRY EARNESTLY

EVERY DAY."

Narrator: WHEN HER HUSBAND

WAS HOME, HE EXPECTED

EVERYTHING TO REVOLVE

AROUND HIM.

HIS MOODS SHIFTED FROM MINUTE TO

MINUTE, AND HIS TEMPER WAS

VOLCANIC.

NEIGHBORS ONCE WATCHED IN

ASTONISHMENT AS ONE BY ONE, HE

HURLED HIS SHIRTS OUT A SECOND

FLOOR WINDOW BECAUSE HE HAD

FOUND ONE WITH A MISSING BUTTON.

John Boyer, historian: TWAIN HAD

HIS WEAKNESSES.

HIS PASSIONS, HIS ENERGIES, HIS

SENSE OF FAILURE, HIS ABILITY TO

DERIDE HIMSELF, AND HIS

FRUSTRATIONS WOULD SOMETIMES

COME OUT IN HIS VENTING WITH

LIVY, HIS DISTANCE FROM HIS

CHILDREN ON OCCASION.

IT WAS A COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP,

TO BE SURE.

Narrator: THE HARTFORD HOUSE

MAY HAVE BEEN THE CLEMENS' HOME,

BUT EVERY SUMMER FOR 20 YEARS,

THEY PACKED UP AND MOVED BACK

TO ELMIRA, NEW YORK, TO BE WITH

LIVY'S SISTER, SUSAN CRANE, AT

HER COUNTRY PLACE CALLED

QUARRY FARM.

THE CHILDREN LOVED QUARRY FARM.

THERE WERE 12 CATS

AND A CONSTANTLY SHIFTING CAST

OF COUSINS TO PLAY WITH.

CLEMENS FOUND COMPANIONS

THERE, TOO.

JOHN T. LEWIS WAS A PIG FARMER,

A FREE-BORN AFRICAN-AMERICAN

FROM MARYLAND, WHO EARNED

CLEMENS' GRATITUDE FOR HAVING

STOPPED A RUNAWAY CARRIAGE

WHICH WOULD HAVE CARRIED HIS

SISTER-IN-LAW AND NIECE TO

CERTAIN DEATH.

THE TWO MEN SPENT TIME TOGETHER

WHENEVER CLEMENS WAS IN

RESIDENCE.

Russell Banks, writer: WHAT'S

UNUSUAL ABOUT TWAIN IS THAT AS

THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS LIFE

CHANGED, AS HE IN FACT GREW

OLDER, IN A WHITE, BOURGEOIS

WORLD, HE NEVER FORGOT

THAT BASIC FACT

WHICH CAME HOME TO HIM, I'M

SURE, YOU KNOW, IN HIS EARLY--

PREADOLESCENT AND ADOLESCENT

YEARS, THAT RACE IS A CENTRAL

FACT OF AMERICAN ONGOING

HISTORY.

Narrator: THE COOK AT

QUARRY FARM WAS AN EX-SLAVE

NAMED MARY ANN CORD.

ONE LATE AFTERNOON IN 1874, AS

SAM AND LIVY AND THE CHILDREN

LISTENED, SHE TOLD THEM HER LIFE

STORY.

TWAIN WAS SO MOVED BY THE WAY

MARY ANN CORD TOLD HER STORY

THAT HE SET OUT TO PUT IT DOWN

ON PAPER, CHANGING HER NAME TO

AUNT RACHEL.

Man as Twain: "IT WAS SUMMERTIME

AND TWILIGHT.

WE WERE SITTING ON A PORCH ON

THE FARMHOUSE, ON THE SUMMIT OF

THE HILL, AND AUNT RACHEL WAS

SITTING RESPECTFULLY BELOW OUR

LEVEL, ON THE STEPS, FOR SHE WAS

OUR SERVANT AND COLORED.

SHE WAS 60 YEARS OLD,

A CHEERFUL, HEARTY SOUL, AND IT

WAS NO MORE TROUBLE FOR HER TO

LAUGH THAN FOR A BIRD TO SING.

I ASKED HER, AUNT RACHEL, HOW

IS THAT YOU HAVE LIVED

60 YEARS WITHOUT TROUBLE?

SHE SAID, "MISTO CLEMENS, IS

YOU IN 'ARNEST?

WHY, I SAID, I THOUGHT--THAT

IS, I MEANT--WHY, YOU CAN'T

HAVE HAD ANY TROUBLE.

I NEVER HEARD YOU SIGH

AND NEVER SEEN YOUR EYE WHEN

THERE WASN'T A LAUGH IN IT.

SHE SAID, HAS I HAD ANY

TROUBLE?

MISTO CLEMENS, I'S GWYNE TO

TELL YOU, DEN I LEAVE IT TO

YOU.

I WAS BAWN DOWN AMONGST

DE SLAVES."

Narrator: MARY ANN CORD HAD BEEN

BORN A SLAVE IN VIRGINIA,

WHERE SHE MARRIED

AND GAVE BIRTH TO 7 CHILDREN.

THEN, IN 1852, HER FAMILY WAS

TORN APART.

Woman as Mary Ann Cord: "AN' DEY

SOLE MY OLE MAN,

AND TOOK HIM AWAY, AN' DEY BEGAN

TO SELL MY CHIL'EN AND TAKE DEM

AWAY, AN' I BEGIN TO CRY, AN' DE

MAN SAY, SHET UP YO' DAMN

BLUBBERIN, AN' HIT ME IN

DE MOUF WID HIS HAN.

AN' WHEN DE LAS' ONE WAS DONE

BUT MY LITTLE HENRY, I GRAB HIM

CLOST UP TO MY BREAS' AND I RIS

UP AN' SAYS, YOU SHAN'T TAKE

HIM AWAY.

I SAYS, I'LL KILL DE MAN DAT

TETCHES HIM!

BUT MY LITTLE HENRY WHISPER AN'

SAY, I GWYNE TO RUN AWAY

AND DEN I WORK AN' BUY YO

FREEDOM.

BUT DEY GOT HIM, DE MEN DID."

Narrator: SHE LOST TOUCH

WITH HER HUSBAND

AND ALL HER CHILDREN.

YEARS LATER DURING

THE CIVIL WAR, SHE WAS LIVING IN

NORTH CAROLINA WHEN BLACK TROOPS

FIGHTING FOR THE UNION OCCUPIED

HER OWNER'S PLANTATION AND ASKED

HER TO BRING THEM BREAKFAST.

Woman as Mary Ann Cord: "I WAS

STOOPING DOWN BY DE STOVE,

AN' I'D JIST GOT

DE PAN 'O HOT BISCUITS IN MY

HAN' AN WAS 'BOUT TO RAISE UP

WHEN I SEE A BLACK FACE COMIN'

AROUN' UNDER MINE AN DE EYES

LOOKIN' UP INTO MINE, AN I

JIST STOPPED RIGHT DAH AN' NEVER

BUDGED!

JIST GAZED AND GAZED, AN DE PAN

BEGIN TO TREMBLE, AN' ALL OF

A SUDDEN I KNOWED!

DE PAN DROPPED ON DE FLO' AN' I

GRAB HIS LEF' HAN' AN' SHOVE

BACK HIS SLEEVE AN' DEN I GOES

FOR HIS FOREHEAD AN' PUSH DE

HAIR SO, AN' BOY! I SAYS, IF

YOU AIN'T MY HENRY, WHAT IS YU

DOIN' WID DIS WELT ON YO WRIS'

AN' DAT SKY-AR ON YO' FOREHEA?

DE LORD GOD OH BE PRAISE, I GT

MY OWN AG'IN!

OH, NO, MISTER CLEMENS, I HAIN'T

HAD NO TROUBLE.

AN' NO JOY!"

Shelley Fisher Fishkin,

Twain scholar:

NOT ONLY DID HER STORY REMIND

TWAIN OF THE HORRORS OF SLAVERY,

OF THE TREMENDOUS TOLL IT TOOK

ON FAMILIES, ON THE WAY IN WHICH

IT DESTROYED FAMILIES AT A TIME

WHEN HE WAS SURROUNDED BY HIS

FAMILY AND VERY MUCH AWARE OF

HOW MUCH HE LOVED HIS CHILDREN

AND HOW DEVASTATING IT WOULD BE

TO BE SEPARATED FROM THOSE

CHILDREN.

I THINK HEARING MARY ANN CORD

TELL THAT STORY REMINDED TWAIN

OF HOW MUCH POWER A VERNACULAR

STORYTELLER COULD EXERCISE OVER

HIS OR HER LISTENERS.

Narrator: MARK TWAIN WROTE DOWN

MARY ANN CORD'S STORY PRECISELY

AS SHE HAD TOLD IT AND SENT IT

OFF TO WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS,

WITH A NOTE WARNING "IT HAS NO

HUMOR IN IT."

YOU CAN PAY AS LIGHTLY

AS YOU CHOOSE FOR THAT, IF YOU

WANT IT," HE ADDED, "FOR IT IS

RATHER OUT OF MY LINE."

TITLED A TRUE STORY, REPEATED

WORD FOR WORD AS I HEARD IT, T

MARKED HIS FIRST APPEARANCE IN

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY.

THE SLAVEOWNER'S SON FROM

MISSOURI WAS DISCOVERING NEW

WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE WORLD.

THAT SAME SUMMER, HIS

SISTER-IN-LAW SURPRISED HIM WITH

A WRITING PLACE ALL HIS OWN.

Man as Twain: "IT IS

THE LOVELIEST STUDY

YOU EVER SAW, OCTAGONAL WITH

A PEAKED ROOF, EACH FACE FILLED

WITH A SPACIOUS WINDOW, PERCHED

IN COMPLETE ISOLATION ON THE TOP

OF AN ELEVATION THAT COMMANDS

LEAGUES OF VALLEY AND CITY

AND RETREATING RANGES OF DISTANT

BLUE HILLS.

IT IS A COZY NEST AND JUST ROOM

IN IT FOR A SOFA, TABLE,

AND 3 OR 4 CHAIRS.

AND WHEN THE STORMS

SWEEP DOWN THE REMOTE VALLEY

AND THE LIGHTNING FLASHES BEHIND

THE HILLS BEYOND AND THE RAIN

BEATS UPON THE ROOF OVER MY

HEAD, IMAGINE THE LUXURY OF IT."

Laura Skandera-Trombley,

HIS METHOD OF COMPOSITION IS,

HE WOULD TYPICALLY GO OFF FOR

THE DAY, WRITE A TEXT, COME

BACK, AND THEN THE FAMILY WOULD

GATHER AROUND HIM, AND THEY

WOULD ALL LISTEN TO HIM READ,

AND HE COULD INSTANTLY JUDGE HOW

EFFECTIVE HIS PROSE WAS SIMPLY

IN THEIR REACTIONS.

THE IMAGE THAT I HAVE OF WHAT IT

MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR TWAIN

AND HIS FAMILY DURING THIS

20 SUMMERS THAT THEY SPENT AT

QUARRY FARM WAS OF A MAN WHO IS

ENJOYING THE HAPPIEST YEARS OF

HIS LIFE SURROUNDED BY

THE PEOPLE HE LOVED THE MOST,

IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE HE COULD

HAVE THE FREE RANGE OF HIS

IMAGINATION.

Narrator: HE SPENT EACH DAY

IN SPLENDID ISOLATION,

THE AIR THICK WITH

CIGAR SMOKE, HIS HAND RACING

ACROSS THE PAGE.

HERE, WORDS SEEMED TO COME TO

TWAIN AS THEY CAME NOWHERE ELSE,

AND HE WAS SUMMONING THEM UP

FROM 800 MILES AWAY AND 30 YEARS

BEFORE, FROM THE HANNIBAL OF HIS

BOYHOOD, WHEN, HE SAID, "ALL THE

SUMMER WORLD WAS BRIGHT

AND FRESH AND THE SUN ROSE

UPON A TRANQUIL WORLD AND BEAMED

DOWN LIKE A BENEDICTION."

Man as Twain: "THE FOUNTAINS OF

MY GREAT DEEP

ARE BROKEN UP, AND I HAVE

RAINED REMINISCENCES FOR

4 AND 20 HOURS.

THE OLD LIFE HAS SWEPT BEFORE ME

LIKE A PANORAMA.

THE OLD DAYS HAVE TROOPED BY IN

THEIR OLD GLORY AGAIN.

THE OLD FACES HAVE LOOKED OUT OF

THE MISTS OF THE PAST.

OLD FOOTSTEPS HAVE SOUNDED IN MY

LISTENING EARS.

OLD HANDS HAVE CLASPED MINE,

OLD VOICES HAVE GREETED ME,

AND THE SONGS I LOVED AGES

AND AGES AGO HAVE COME WAILING

DOWN THE CENTURIES!"

Narrator: OUT OF HIS FLOOD OF

MEMORIES, A NEW BOOK EMERGED.

THE PROTAGONIST WAS MORE OR LESS

BASED ON THE YOUNG SAM CLEMENS.

HIS NAME WAS TOM SAWYER.

BECKY THATCHER, THE BEAUTIFUL

OBJECT OF TOM'S AFFECTIONS, WAS

INSPIRED BY HIS BOYHOOD

NEIGHBOR, LAURA HAWKINS.

SAWYER'S RAFFISH FRIEND,

HUCKLEBERRY FINN, WAS MODELED ON

TOM BLANKENSHIP.

Jocelyn Chadwick, Twain scholar:

HE WEAVES US

IN WITH THE NARRATIVE--

"LOOK, I'M GONNA TELL YOU

A STORY."

HE GIVES US THESE SEEMINGLY--

THESE SEEMINGLY SIMPLE SENTENCES

BY THESE SEEMINGLY SIMPLE

PEOPLE, WHOM WE END UP TRUSTING,

JUST PUTTING OUR WHOLE SOUL

AND TRUST IN AND SAYING, "OK,

I'LL--I'LL BITE.

I'LL LISTEN TO THE STORY."

Narrator: THE ADVENTURES OF

TOM SAWYER,

FINISHED THE FOLLOWING SUMMER,

WAS "SIMPLY A HYMN," TWAIN

WROTE, "PUT INTO PROSE TO GIVE

IT A WORLDLY AIR."

IT WOULD BECOME THE BEST-LOVED

OF ALL TWAIN'S BOOKS,

A CELEBRATION OF A SMALL-TOWN

AMERICAN BOYHOOD IN WHICH

THE HERO SOLVES A MURDER

MYSTERY, MANAGES TO EAVESDROP ON

HIS OWN FUNERAL, AND TRICKS HIS

FRIENDS INTO PAINTING HIS

FENCES.

Man as Twain: "TOM RESUMED

HIS WHITEWASHING

AND ANSWERED CARELESSLY,

LIKE IT?

WELL, I DON'T SEE WHY I

OUGHTN'T TO LIKE IT.

DOES A BOY GET A CHANCE TO

WHITEWASH A FENCE EVERY DAY?

THAT PUT THE THING IN

A NEW LIGHT.

BEN STOPPED NIBBLING HIS APPLE.

TOM SWEPT HIS BRUSH DAINTILY

BACK AND FORTH, STEPPED BACK TO

NOTE THE EFFECT, ADDED A TOUCH

HERE AND THERE.

BEN WATCHING EVERY MOVE

AND GETTING MORE AND MORE

INTERESTED, MORE AND MORE

ABSORBED.

PRESENTLY HE SAID, SAY, TOM,

LET ME WHITEWASH A LITTLE."

Ron Powers, writer: I THINK

TOM SAWYER IS DURABLE

BECAUSE IT'S

THE NORMAN ROCKWELL VERSION OF

WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO THINK

BOYHOOD IS.

TOM SAWYER GIVES US A VERY

MYTHIC AND VERY BENIGN VERSION

OF BOYHOOD.

AND IT IDENTIFIES BOYHOOD AS

A SPECIFIC TIME IN

THE LIFE CYCLE OF A PERSON.

Narrator: THE STORY OF

TOM SAWYER WOULD

ENCOURAGE TWAIN TO RETURN AGAIN

AND AGAIN TO THE SCENES OF HIS

YOUTH, FIRST IN A SERIES OF

MAGAZINE ARTICLES DRAWING UPON

HIS STEAMBOAT YEARS THAT

EVENTUALLY BECAME ANOTHER BOOK,

LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

AFTER READING THE FIRST

INSTALLMENT,

WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS

TOLD HIM, "THE PIECE ABOUT

THE MISSISSIPPI IS CAPITAL.

IT ALMOST MADE THE WATER IN OUR

ICE PITCHER MUDDY."

TWAIN'S PAST NOW SEEMED

AN INEXHAUSTIBLE SOURCE OF

INSPIRATION FOR HIM.

"WHEN THE TANK RUNS DRY,"

HE SAID, "YOU'VE ONLY TO LEAVE

IT ALONE, AND IT WILL FILL UP

AGAIN IN TIME."

Ron Powers, writer: MARK TWAIN

WAS A PHENOMENAL WRITER.

ON THE ONE HAND, HE GENERATED

OCEANS AND OCEANS OF COPY,

WRITING IN LONGHAND MOST OF

THE TIME--

WRITING LEFT-HANDED WHEN HIS ARM

WAS TOO ARTHRITIC--

SO THE PAGES FLEW FROM HIS PEN.

AT THE SAME TIME, HE WAS

A METICULOUS CRAFTSMAN OF

SENTENCES, AND I THINK THIS WENT

BACK TO HIS TYPESETTING DAYS

WHEN HE, AS A BOY, HE LITERALLY

SET WORDS IN TYPE AND PUT HIS

FINGERS ON THOSE CHARACTERS.

HE PARED DOWN THE ENGLISH

LANGUAGE.

HE WAS THE FIRST TO REALLY STRIP

IT OF ITS ORNAMENTATION,

AND HE REALLY GOT THE TERSE

RHYTHMS OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE.

Narrator: "THE DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN THE RIGHT WORD

AND ALMOST THE RIGHT WORD,"

TWAIN ONCE SAID,

"IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

LIGHTNING AND THE LIGHTNING

BUG."

Arthur Miller, playwright:

HE WAS CHISELING IT OUT.

HE MADE IT SEEM LIKE

AN EFFUSION, LIKE IT WAS JUST

DRIPPING OFF OF HIM, LIKE

A SHOWER BATH,

BUT YOU READ ANY PAGE OF HIS,

AND YOU KNOW THAT THERE'S A POET

WHO'S CRAFTING ALL THOSE LINES.

YOU KNOW, IT'S HARD TO IMPROVE

ON ANY OF HIS LINES.

Narrator: THE 10 YEARS THAT

FOLLOWED MARK TWAIN'S MOVE

TO HARTFORD

WERE THE MOST PRODUCTIVE OF HIS

CREATIVE LIFE.

IN ADDITION TO TOM SAWYER

AND LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI,

HE PRODUCED STILL ANOTHER BOOK

OF TRAVEL PIECES CALLED

A TRAMP ABROAD,

AND IN 1881 HE MADE A BID FOR

THE KIND OF LITERARY

RESPECTABILITY THAT HAD ALWAYS

BEEN DENIED HIM BY PUBLISHING

A CHILDREN'S BOOK SET IN

TUDOR ENGLAND, CALLED

THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER.

CONVENTIONAL CRITICS LOVED IT.

ITS LANGUAGE WAS "PURE," THEY

SAID, "REFINED," "ENNOBLING."

DURING THOSE SAME 10 YEARS,

BETWEEN 1874 AND 1884,

THOMAS HARDY PUBLISHED

RETURN OF THE NATIVE,

DOSTOYEVSKY WROTE

THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV,

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON'S

TREASURE ISLAND APPEARED,

HENRY JAMES PRODUCED

PORTRAIT OF A LADY.

MEANWHILE, TWAIN HAD BEGUN

ANOTHER BOOK DRAWN FROM MEMORIES

OF HIS OWN CHILDHOOD.

"I LIKE IT ONLY TOLERABLY WELL,

AS FAR AS I'VE GOT," HE TOLD

HOWELLS AFTER WRITING THE FIRST

400 MANUSCRIPT PAGES, "AND MAY

POSSIBLY PIGEONHOLE IT OR BURN

IT."

HE OFTEN PUT IT ASIDE FOR OTHER

THINGS DURING THE NEXT 7 YEARS.

Shelley Fisher Fishkin,

Twain scholar:

I THINK TWAIN BEGAN IT AS

A SEQUEL TO TOM SAWYER, WHICH

WAS A BOY'S BOOK...

BUT THE BOOK WAS QUICKLY

HIJACKED AND BECAME SOMETHING

VERY DIFFERENT.

Hal Holbrook, actor: LINCOLN

DECLARED

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION TO

TRY TO IDEALIZE THE STRUGGLE OF

THE NORTH AGAINST THE SOUTH,

AND THEN IN 1876, RECONSTRUCTION

DIED, THE KU KLUX KLAN CAME OUT,

AND HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE BOOK,

BEGAN.

INTERESTING.

HE STARTED TO WRITE THIS THING,

AND HE MUST HAVE RUN INTO

DIFFICULTY.

INTERESTING...

AND THEN HE STOPS THE BOOK.

HE PUT IT ASIDE FOR 5 YEARS.

THEN, IN APRIL 1882, HE DECIDES

TO GO DOWN THE RIVER TO

NEW ORLEANS ON A STEAMBOAT

AND WRITE A BOOK CALLED

LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI,

NOT HUCKLEBERRY FINN.

IN MAY, HE TURNS AROUND, HE

STARTS BACK UP THE RIVER AGAIN,

ALL THE WAY TO MINNESOTA,

AND THEN, AT THE TAG END OF

THAT, HE GOES BACK AND VISITS

HANNIBAL AGAIN...

AND THE NEXT MONTH, WHAT DOES HE

DO?

HE PICKS UP HUCKLEBERRY FINN.

WHAT DOES THAT SAY TO YOU?

WHAT DID HE SEE GOING DOWN THAT

RIVER?

HE'D BEEN OFF THAT RIVER FOR

20 YEARS...

SINCE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR.

WHAT DO YOU THINK HE WAS LOOKING

AT?

HE WAS LOOKING AT THE HORRIBLE

FAILURE OF FREEING THE SLAVE.

Narrator: BACK AT QUARRY FARM IN

THE SUMMER OF 1883, TWAIN

RETURNED WITH RENEWED EAGERNESS

TO THE MANUSCRIPT.

IT WAS A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF

STORY, TOLD IN THE PLAIN

LANGUAGE OF HIS MISSOURI

BOYHOOD.

IT WOULD BE HIS MASTERPIECE.

Ron Powers, writer: I THINK THAT

SAM CLEMENS AND MARK TWAIN

WERE A KIND OF

DIALECTIC WITH ONE ANOTHER.

IT'S ALMOST LIKE HAVING A PUPPET

THAT YOU CAN INVOKE AND TALK TO,

AND WHEN YOU TALK TO THIS

ALTER EGO, AN ENERGY COMES UP

THAT WASN'T THERE BEFORE.

SAM CLEMENS WAS A CAUTIOUS,

BOURGEOIS, UPWARDLY STRIVING

GENTLEMAN WHO WAS ON THE WAY UP

FROM THE MIDWEST INTO

THE SALONS OF THE EAST.

MARK TWAIN WAS AN UNTAMEABLE

ROGUE, A KIND OF BARELY

RESTRAINABLE ID, A GREAT, DARK

SPIRIT THAT SAM COULD LET OUT

OF THE BOTTLE SOMETIMES,

AND SOMETIMES MARK TWAIN GOT OUT

WHEN SAM LEAST EXPECTED IT.

I DON'T THINK HE REALLY

UNDERSTOOD AS HE WAS WRITING

HUCKLEBERRY FINN WHAT

AN INSURRECTIONARY

AND SUBVERSIVE AND COMPLETELY

REVOLUTIONARY BOOK THAT WAS.

Hamlin Hill, Twain scholar:

WITH ADVENTURES

OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN,

MARK TWAIN LIBERATED AMERICAN

LITERATURE.

HE CUT IT LOOSE FROM ANY OF

THE RESTRICTIONS AND BOUNDS OF

PROPRIETY, OF PROPER GRAMMAR,

OF DIGNIFIED, ELEGANT SPEECH.

HUCKLEBERRY FINN DOESN'T TALK

LIKE AHAB, AND HE DOESN'T TALK

LIKE HESTER

OR ARTHUR DIMMESDALE,

AND MARK TWAIN DOESN'T APOLOGIZE

FOR HIM.

YOU DON'T HEAR MARK TWAIN'S

VOICE AT ALL.

HE NARRATES

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER,

BUT HE LETS HUCK, THIS VULGAR,

ILLITERATE, UNEDUCATED LITTLE

RIVER RAT, JUVENILE DELINQUENT

TELL HIS WHOLE STORY WITHOUT

AN APOLOGY OF ANY SORT,

AND THAT, AS HEMINGWAY SAID,

THAT REALLY WAS THE BEGINNING OF

AMERICAN LITERATURE.

Ron Powers, writer: BUT IT

STARTED WITH THE VOICE.

IT STARTED WITH HUCK'S VOICE.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ME, WITHOUT YOU

HAVE READ A BOOK BY

MR. SAM CLEMENS CALLED

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER."

ONCE THOSE RHYTHMS KICKED IN,

THE PUPPET WAS THERE.

THE ALTER EGO WAS THERE, AND HE

COULD TAP INTO THAT ENERGY.

Man as Twain: "YOU DON'T KNOW

ABOUT ME,

WITHOUT YOU HAVE READ A BOOK BY

THE NAME OF

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER,

BUT THAT AIN'T NO MATTER.

THAT BOOK WAS MADE BY

MR. MARK TWAIN, AND HE TOLD

THE TRUTH, MAINLY.

THERE WAS THINGS WHICH HE

STRETCHED, BUT MAINLY HE TOLD

THE TRUTH..."

Narrator: SET BEFORE

THE CIVIL WAR

AND BEFORE EMANCIPATION,

ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN

IS THE STORY OF TWO RUNAWAYS--

A WHITE BOY,

TOM'S OLD FRIEND

HUCKLEBERRY FINN, FLEEING

CIVILIZATION, AND A BLACK MAN,

JIM, WHO IS RUNNING AWAY FROM

SLAVERY.

Jocelyn Chadwick, Twain scholar:

IT'S ALL IN DIALECT,

IT'S ALL TOLD FROM THE SOUTHERN

PERSPECTIVE, AND IT WOULD TAKE

A SOUTHERN WRITER WHOSE

PERSPECTIVE HAS SHIFTED.

A NORTHERNER COULD NOT HAVE

WRITTEN HUCK FINN FOR THE VERY

REASON THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO

UNDERSTAND SLAVERY AS THAT

PECULIAR INSTITUTION, AND YOU

WOULD HAVE TO BE ABLE TO RENDER

IT IN SUCH A WAY AS TO BE

BELIEVABLE.

HE DEMYSTIFIES IT, HE

DEMYTHOLOGIZES IT, HE TAKES

THE ROMANTICISM AWAY FROM IT.

I THINK LANGSTON HUGHES SAID IT

BEST WHEN HE SAID THAT THIS IS

THE FIRST TIME WE HAVE HAD

A REALISTIC DEPICTION OF

AN UNLETTERED SLAVE CLINGING TO

THE HOPE OF FREEDOM.

THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE IN JIM.

Dick Gregory, comedian: BUT

HERE'S A MAN THAT CAME OUT

AND PUT A FACE ON BLACK FOLKS.

THE WORD "NIGGER," UP UNTIL HE

CAME THROUGH, MEANT

A NON-PERSON, A PRODUCT, UH,

SOMEBODY ELSE'S GOODS, SO NO ONE

EVER HAD TO LISTEN TO

A CONVERSATION FROM A BLACK

PERSON, AND SO, MARK TWAIN WAS

ABLE TO COME THROUGH AND SAY,

"HERE'S NIGGER JIM.

HERE'S A STORY," AND HE TOOK

A BLACK PERSON AND MADE THEM

A HUMAN BEING.

Narrator: TOGETHER,

JIM AND HUCK DRIFT

DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI ON A RAFT,

ENCOUNTERING ALL MANNER OF

PEOPLE AND PLACES, AND GETTING

TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER.

Man as Twain: "THIS NIGHT WE RUN

BETWEEN 7 AND 8 HOURS,

WITH A CURRENT THAT

WAS MAKING OVER 4 MILE AN HOUR.

WE CATCHED FISH AND TALKED,

AND WE TOOK A SWIM NOW AND THEN

TO KEEP OFF SLEEPINESS.

IT WAS KIND OF SOLEMN, DRIFTING

DOWN THE BIG, STILL RIVER,

LAYING ON OUR BACKS, LOOKING UP

AT THE STARS...

AND WE DIDN'T EVER FEEL LIKE

TALKING LOUD, AND IT WARN'T

OFTEN THAT WE LAUGHED--

ONLY A LITTLE KIND OF LOW

CHUCKLE."

William Styron, writer: I THINK

THERE IS SOMETHING SO

IRRESISTIBLE ABOUT THIS FABLE,

THIS STORY OF THIS KID AND HIS

BLACK COMPANION ON THIS MURKY

AND MYSTERIOUS WATERWAY THAT

JUST TOUCHES SOME CHORD IN

READERS EVERYWHERE.

I THINK MARK TWAIN, OUT OF HIS

GENIUS, HAS FOUND A METAPHOR FOR

THE TRAGICOMEDY OF LIFE.

Narrator: HUCK'S EXPERIENCES

WITH JIM TURN UPSIDE DOWN

EVERYTHING HE HAS BEEN TAUGHT

ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE AND WHITE,

ABOUT SLAVERY AND FREEDOM,

ABOUT GOOD AND EVIL.

Man as Twain: "JIM TALKED

OUT LOUD.

HE WAS SAYING HOW THE FIRST

THING HE WOULD DO WHEN HE GOT TO

A FREE STATE, HE WOULD GO TO

SAVING UP MONEY AND NEVER SPEND

A SINGLE CENT, AND WHEN HE GOT

ENOUGH, HE WOULD BUY HIS WIFE...

AND THEN THEY WOULD BOTH WORK TO

BUY THE TWO CHILDREN, AND IF

THEIR MASTER WOULDN'T SELL THEM,

THEY'D GET AN AB'LITIONIST TO GO

AND STEAL THEM.

IT MOST FROZE ME TO HEAR SUCH

TALK.

HERE WAS THIS NIGGER WHICH I HAD

AS GOOD AS HELPED TO RUN AWAY,

COMING RIGHT OUT FLATFOOTED

AND SAYING HE WOULD STEAL HIS

CHILDREN--

CHILDREN THAT BELONGED TO A MAN

I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW, A MAN THAT

HADN'T EVER DONE ME NO HARM."

Jocelyn Chadwick, Twain scholar:

HUCK AWAKENS TO HEAR JIM,

WHAT HE CALLS, "MOANIN'

AND MOURNIN'."

JIM'S BEEN CRYING.

JIM CRIES OFTEN AT NIGHT,

AND HUCK HAS, BECAUSE OF HIS

EXPERIENCE WITH JIM, HAS BEGUN

TO SEE JIM IN A DIFFERENT WAY,

AND HUCK SAYS HE'S "MOANIN'

AND MOURNIN' FOR HIS FAMILY,"

AND HE SAYS I KNOW THIS BECAUSE

HE'LL SAY, "POOR LITTLE JOHNNY,

POOR LITTLE ELIZABETH, WON'T BE

SEEIN' THEIR FATHER ANYMORE,"

AND HUCK SAYS SOME OF THE MOST

SIGNIFICANT WORDS, I THINK,

I'VE EVER READ IN FICTION.

HE SAYS, "I GUESS JIM MISSES HIS

FAMILY THE WAY WHITE FOLKS DO

THEIR'N.

IT DON'T SEEM NATURAL, BUT I

GUESS IT'S SO."

JIM'S A MAN.

JIM'S A PERSON.

HE'S NOT 3/5 A PERSON.

HE'S NOT INVISIBLE.

HE'S A DAD.

HE'S A FATHER.

HE'S A HUSBAND.

HE'S A--HE'S A REAL INDIVIDUAL,

AND HUCK IS NOT MAKING A RACIST

STATEMENT.

HE'S UNLEARNING, LITERALLY.

WE ACTUALLY HEAR HIM MAKING

THOSE CONNECTIONS IN HIS HEAD.

"I'VE BEEN TAUGHT THAT THEY

DON'T CARE ABOUT FAMILY, THAT

YOU CAN SEPARATE THEM, YOU CAN

SELL THEM, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING

YOU WANT TO THEM, AND YET HERE'S

THIS MAN CRYING DAY AFTER DAY

AFTER DAY, TALKING ABOUT

POOR LITTLE ELIZABETH

AND POOR LITTLE JOHNNY.

HE MUST CARE ABOUT HIS FAMILY."

Narrator: THE NOVEL REACHES

ITS MORAL CLIMAX

WHEN HUCK IS FACED WITH

A TERRIBLE CHOICE.

HE BELIEVES HE HAS COMMITTED

A GRIEVOUS SIN IN HELPING JIM

ESCAPE, AND HE FINALLY WRITES

OUT A LETTER, TELLING JIM'S

OWNER WHERE HER RUNAWAY PROPERTY

CAN BE FOUND.

HUCK FEELS GOOD ABOUT DOING THIS

AT FIRST, HE SAYS, AND MARVELS

AT "HOW CLOSE I COME TO BEING

LOST AND GOING TO HELL," BUT

THEN HE HESITATES.

Man as Twain: "I GOT TO THINKING

OVER OUR TRIP

DOWN THE RIVER, AND I SEE

JIM BEFORE ME ALL THE TIME--

IN THE DAY AND IN THE NIGHTTIME,

SOMETIMES MOONLIGHT, SOMETIMES

STORMS, AND WE A-FLOATING ALONG,

TALKING AND SINGING

AND LAUGHING--

BUT SOMEHOW I COULDN'T SEEM TO

STRIKE NO PLACE TO HARDEN ME

AGAINST HIM, BUT ONLY THE OTHER

KIND.

I'D SEE HIM STANDING MY WATCH ON

TOP OF HIS'N, 'STEAD OF CALLING

ME, SO I COULD GO ON SLEEPING,

AND SEE HOW GLAD HE WAS WHEN I

COME BACK OUT OF THE FOG,

AND SUCH-LIKE TIMES,

AND WOULD ALWAYS CALL ME HONEY,

AND DO EVERYTHING HE COULD THINK

OF FOR ME, AND HOW GOOD HE

ALWAYS WAS...

AND AT LAST I STRUCK THE TIME

WHEN HE SAID I WAS THE BEST

FRIEND OLD JIM EVER HAD IN

THE WORLD, AND THE ONLY ONE HE'S

GOT NOW, AND THEN I HAPPENED TO

LOOK AROUND AND SEE THAT PAPER.

I TOOK IT UP AND HELD IT IN MY

HAND.

I WAS A-TREMBLING BECAUSE I'D

GOT TO DECIDE, FOREVER, BETWIXT

TWO THINGS, AND I KNOWED IT.

I STUDIED A MINUTE, SORT OF

HOLDING MY BREATH, AND THEN SAYS

TO MYSELF, ALL RIGHT, THEN, I'LL

GO TO HELL, AND TORE IT UP."

Russell Banks, writer:

THAT SENTENCE, IT MAKES

THE HAIR ON THE BACK OF MY NECK

STAND UP TODAY WHEN I THINK

ABOUT THAT SENTENCE

AND THE CONTEXT OF THAT

SENTENCE.

IT'S THE GREAT MORAL AWAKENING

FOR WHITE AMERICANS.

THERE IS, THEN, THE POSSIBILITY

OF REDEMPTION FROM WHAT TWAIN

SAW AND WHAT MOST OF US TODAY

STILL SEE AS THE GREAT--

THE SIN AT OUR INCEPTION,

THE SIN OF SLAVERY

AND--AND RACISM.

IF YOU CAN ACCEPT THAT--

"ALL RIGHT, THEN,

I GUESS I'LL GO TO HELL,"

THEN THE POSSIBILITY

OF REDEMPTION EXISTS.

David Bradley, writer:

THE MOMENT WHEN HUCK SAYS

"I'LL GO TO HELL," IT'S

A CHALLENGING MOMENT BECAUSE HE

THOUGHT THAT WAS TRUE.

IT WASN'T A FIGURATIVE STATEMENT

AT ALL...

AND IT COMES AFTER HE'S SAID

SOME OTHER THINGS ABOUT

"MAYBE IF I HAD BEEN TRAINED,

IF I'D GONE TO SUNDAY SCHOOL,

MAYBE IF I'D BEEN LEARNED RIGHT,

THEN I WOULDN'T DO THIS, BUT I

CAN'T HELP MYSELF.

I'M--I'M EVIL.

I'LL GO TO HELL THEN.

SAVE MY FRIEND."

THAT'S WHAT IT ALL COMES DOWN

TO, ISN'T IT?

I MEAN, EVERY MORAL CHOICE THAT

WE MAKE--

IF WE DECIDE NOT TO DO WHAT WE

THINK IS GOING TO SAVE US, BUT

DO WHAT WE THINK WILL SAVE

SOMEONE ELSE, I MEAN, IT'S

THE ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN MOMENT AS

WELL.

THAT'S THE MOMENT AS A WRITER,

IF YOU CAN GET TO ANYTHING THAT

HAS THAT CLARITY, YOU'VE GOT IT.

YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING.

Russell Banks, writer: I THINK

THAT HUCKLEBERRY FINN

IS OUR HOMERIC EPIC.

IT STANDS TO OUR LITERATURE,

I THINK, AS THE ILIAD

AND THE ODYSSEY STAND TO GREEK

AND EUROPEAN LITERATURE IN SOME

SENSE.

WE ARE, AS A PEOPLE, RADICALLY

DIFFERENT, DESPITE OUR COMMON

THREADS OF HISTORY, FROM

EUROPEANS, AND THE ELEMENTS THAT

MAKE US DIFFERENT, I THINK, ARE

ESSENTIALLY TWO--

RACE AND SPACE--

AND TWAIN'S WORK, MORE THAN

ANY OTHER WRITER BEFORE HIM

AND PROBABLY MORE THAN ANY OTHER

WRITER SINCE, EMBRACE THOSE TWO

FACTS AND MAKES POSSIBLE

AN AMERICAN LITERATURE WHICH

OTHERWISE WAS NOT POSSIBLE.

HAWTHORNE WAS TRYING TO WRITE

ENGLISH LITERATURE.

EVEN MELVILLE, TO HIS GREAT--

IN HIS GREAT EXTREMITY, HE

ACCEPTED THE FACT, THE CENTRAL

FACT OF SPACE IN HIS WORK.

THERE'S NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT,

BUT HE WAS A LITTLE MORE

AMBIGUOUS AND AMBIVALENT ABOUT

RACE.

TWAIN JUST LOOKED IT RIGHT IN

THE FACE AND--

AND MADE IT CENTRAL.

William Styron, writer:

ALL A MAN EVER HAD TO DO TO

ACHIEVE IMMORTALITY WAS TO WRITE

A BOOK LIKE HUCKLEBERRY FINN,

UH, WHICH--WHICH, IN THE END, IS

SORT OF A HYMN WITHOUT

SENTIMENTALITY TO THE SOLIDARITY

OF THE HUMAN RACE, AND IT HAS

ITS MAGNIFICENCE IN THAT SPIRIT.

Narrator: BUT UNLIKE TOM SAWYER,

HUCKLEBERRY FINN WAS NOT

GREETED WITH UNIVERSAL ACCLAIM.

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF CONCORD,

MASSACHUSETTS, BANNED THE BOOK.

Man as Twain: "THEY HAVE

EXPELLED HUCK FROM

THEIR LIBRARY AS, QUOTE, TRASH

AND SUITABLE ONLY FOR

THE SLUMS.

THAT WILL SELL 25,000 COPIES

FOR US SURE."

Ron Powers, writer: WHEN IT

FIRST CAME OUT, IT

WASN'T THE PORTRAYAL OF BLACKS

THAT GOT IT BANNED FROM

LIBRARIES.

IT WAS THE ROUGH LANGUAGE,

THE COARSENESS, THE KIND OF

CELEBRATION OF THE BAD BOY

AND THE BAD LANGUAGE

AND THE BAD GRAMMAR...

AND THEN AS OTHER ERAS CAME

ALONG WITH THEIR OWN DEMONS, IT

ALWAYS SEEMED THAT

HUCKLEBERRY FINN HAD AN ANSWER

OR A--OR A KIND OF REFERENT TO

THOSE DEMONS.

Narrator: IN HARTFORD

ON NOVEMBER 30,

1885, SAM CLEMENS TURNED 50.

TRIBUTES ARRIVED FROM ALL OVER

THE WORLD.

ONLY 20 YEARS EARLIER--

PENNILESS, FRIENDLESS, FULL OF

SELF-LOATHING--

HE HAD CONTEMPLATED SUICIDE IN

CALIFORNIA.

NOW, EVERYTHING WAS GOING HIS

WAY.

HE HAD A LOVELY WIFE

AND 3 ADORING CHILDREN.

HE WAS THE BEST-KNOWN WRITER IN

AMERICA AND THE RICHEST--

RICH ENOUGH FOR HIS FAMILY TO

LIVE LIKE MILLIONAIRES.

"I AM OUT OF THE WOODS,"

HE WROTE IN HIS JOURNAL.

"IT SEEMS THAT EVERYTHING I

TOUCH TURNS TO GOLD.

I AM FRIGHTENED AT

THE PROPORTIONS OF MY

PROSPERITY."

IT NOW SEEMED TO SAM CLEMENS

THAT HE HAD PUT HIS

HARDSCRABBLE BOYHOOD AND HIS

WANDERING YOUTH FAR BEHIND HIM,

BUT NOT EVEN IN HIS WILDEST

DREAMS--

OR HIS WORST NIGHTMARES--

COULD HE HAVE FORESEEN ALL THAT

WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN TO HIM

AND TO HIS FAMILY.

Announcer: FOR OVER A DECADE,

GENERAL MOTORS HAS BEEN

THE SOLE CORPORATE SPONSOR OF

THE FILMS OF KEN BURNS.

WE'RE PROUD OF OUR ASSOCIATION

WITH KEN BURNS AND PBS.

IT'S ALL PART OF GM's COMMITMENT

TO SHARE THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

THROUGH QUALITY TELEVISION

PROGRAMMING.

Announcer: MAJOR FUNDING FOR

THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED BY

THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS--

INVESTING IN IDEAS.

RETURNING RESULTS...

THE CONNECTICUT OFFICE OF

TOURISM--

CONNECTICUT, WHERE YOU CAN

STILL SEE WHAT MARK TWAIN FELL

IN LOVE WITH...

THE ARTHUR VINING DAVIS

FOUNDATIONS...

PARK FOUNDATION--

DEDICATED TO EDUCATION

AND QUALITY TELEVISION...

THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC

BROADCASTING,

AND ANNUAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT

FROM PBS VIEWERS LIKE YOU.