Autobiography of Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer), requested that his autobiography remain unpublished until 100 years after his death. In 2010, the Mark Twain Project, led by editors Griffin and Harriet E. Smith, released Volume 1 as part of the larger "Mark Twain Papers" series. Volume 2 boasts the writer's stories, observations, opinions, and everything else in between, arranged by the date of their dictation to stenographer Josephine Hobby and author Albert Bigelow Paine. A full 281 pages are dedicated to thorough explanatory notes, appendixes, references, and an index. As much a sensitive and articulate historical work as an autobiography, the book is almost inexhaustible in its content—readers are treated to a biting editorial on mesmerism, a sweet critique of Twain's daughter's biography of her father, and sage opinions regarding American statesman John Hay, all within four pages. Paradoxically, what seems like a mountain of anecdotal scraps and opinions results in a clear picture of Clemens as Twain.