In this era where millennials think everything they do needs to be captured for posterity, where the proliferation of fake news seems to crowd out legitimate reporting, we need to celebrate those people and organizations that systemically, diligently, studiously (there are probably 20 more “ly” relevant adverbs) apply themselves to their profession and turn out world-class content. In the world of academic editing, I can think of no  other organization than the Mark Twain Project Online (www.marktwainproject.org). Led for years by Robert Hirst, they are singularly focused on the writings, letters, and life of Mark Twain (IMHO America’s greatest writer).

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Today’s Wall Street Journal  has an interesting Q&A with author Adam Hochschild, who they tagged to make the first selection in their Book Club. His selection: Life on the Mississippi. Mr. Hochschild makes the point that Twain’s writings were sometimes erratic and that readers can (and should) skip many of the chapters of the book. Of course he’s read this book five times, so perhaps he came to that conclusion after read #3. For the rest of us it’s we  simply take the good with the bad. Clearly much of Twain’s writings was meant to fill up pages (for many of his magazine articles he was in fact paid by the word; his novels were usually illustrated also) but I’ll wager this: even his filler content is superior to what passes for literature these days. Read the article here: WSJ

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I’ve been a Mark Twain fan my entire life. Frankly, if I could get paid to simply read his books I’d probably be happy with the minimum wage. I’m currently plowing through Albert Bigelow Paine’s biography of Twain. It’s a little dated and doesn’t stand the test of time. I’m about 60% through and would rate it simply “OK”. I have to believe that Twain’s bankruptcy due to his involvement with the Paige typesetter was a much more psychotic event for him than Bigelow suggests. His depictions of Livy and the children also leaves a lot to be desired. His infant boy’s death gets barely a mention – I believe the kid was 2 years old or so…not a 2 month old. Anyway, these are some preliminary thoughts from an admitted rank amateur. Continue reading “Mark Twain Project Online” →