Who Is Mark Twain? - Mark Twain, edited by Robert H. Hirst

It’s no secret that Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was a great writer. In fact, he is one of the best American Literature has to offer. On the jacket of his new collection of previously unpublished works, Who Is Mark Twain?, the publisher includes a quote from William Faulkner explaining that “Mark Twain was the first truly American writer, and all of us since are his heirs, we descended from him.” This is certainly no understatement. While much of Twain’s work is famous the world over, this new collection which represents a broad temporal sampling of his work, both finished and unfinished, is utterly fascinating. Its editor, Robert H. Hirst, makes the distinction early in his introduction that the strength of the book is not in an ability to compete with the likes of Tom Sawyer, or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, rather; “in larger part,” he explains, “their interest lies elsewhere—in what they show us about how Mark Twain worked as a writer”. While so many writers do everything imaginable to destroy any evidence of their writing process, or what might be better labeled their artistic struggle, from the future archives of history, Twain never destroyed any of his work. He left behind more literary artifacts than any other 19th century author in the United States. By drawing on these remains Who Is Mark Twain? is able to illuminate the writing process of one of America’s most fascinating and celebrated authors in a way never achieved before.

But first, before moving on, it’s important to clarify that many of these pieces, although often unfinished and sometimes even including his notes for later drafts, were not left unpublished because Twain thought they were of inferior quality. There were other considerations to be made as Hirst points out. Many of these pieces reflected unpopular opinions of Twain’s that he feared might cause financial problems for his family (like The Missionary in World-Politics and Interviewing the Interviewer), sometimes he was afraid his humor was too dark for the general public (for example The Undertaker’s Tale), sometimes a piece was more like an experiment or a test-run than a final copy, and sometimes a particular piece got away from him and he just couldn’t quite reel it back in (see the very funny Conversations with Satan). Nonetheless, many of these newly published pieces are well polished and fully capable of standing on their own.

The first characteristic one can’t help but notice when reading Who Is Mark Twain? is the author’s wicked sense of humor that permeates almost through the entirety of his work. Even in the two most serious pieces included in the collection (The Missionary in World-Politics and The American Press) his pleasantly sarcastic sense of humor seeps into his writing. This is perhaps his greatest gift as a writer—as any writer will tell you it isn’t easy to be funny on paper—and Twain was well aware of it. His prose shines in entries like Conversations with Satan where he treats the reader to some of his small talk with the devil:

“There isn’t a headache in a hundred years of [the German stove]. As for economy, it is a good ten times more economical than any other house-heating apparatus known to the world.”

“You use it in America, of course?”

I was pleasantly surprised at that, and said—

“Is it possible that Ihre Majestät is not familiar with America?”

“Well—no. I have not been there lately. I am not needed there.”

At first I was gratified; but next I was suspicious that maybe his remark did not quite mean what I had thought it meant; so it seemed good diplomacy not to stir the matter, but leave it alone and go on about the stove again.

In his fictitious interview with the notorious Charles A. Dana, part-owner and editor of The Sun in New York City, Twain’s caustic sarcasm is on full showcase. The piece is filled with hilarious excerpts such as this one on the art of the interview:

“Another feature, my son, is the interviewing business. We used to do a good thing in that line, but latterly Sun reporters find it difficult to get access to respectable people. However, it matters little. We seldom printed what people actually said, anyhow, and so we can get up the interviews just as well in the office as elsewhere. Try your hand at it—I think you will like it.”

Or on Dana’s being chased out of Chicago:

“The whole city regretted my departure, and so did the newspaper men. The papers published kindly and appreciative farewells, and some of them were very touching. One paper published a long and flattering biography of me and said in conclusion: ‘We deeply regret the departure of this gifted writer from our midst. We have seen meaner men than him—we have seen much meaner men than Charles A. Dana—though we cannot recall an instance just now.’ For the first time in many years I shed tears when I read that article.”

However, Twain’s common sense apparently led him to believe that the powerful Dana was as fearsome, if not more so, than the Fallen Angel himself and thus this scathing comedic sketch was never published in his lifetime. Perhaps, for Twain’s readers’ sake, this works out best since he was able to avoid having his reputation and career destroyed by Dana in The Sun.

Aside from Twain’s unique sense of humor, the remarkable contemporary relevance of his writings will resound with the reader as well. Twain often takes unpopular positions and publishes things anonymously, or chooses not to publish them at all, for the sake of his reputation. The writings sampled in this new collection portray a man that positioned himself boldly against tyranny and oppression in matters of both religion and governance. His satires effectively critique popular social and political sentiments, take for instance The Quarrel in the Strong-Box which addresses the questions of inequality, social hierarchy, and the interpretation of the Constitution through a parable of monetary pieces arguing in a safety deposit box, as a prime example. But somehow, his musings on tyranny, despotism, organized religion, and politics seem less like rants and more like well thought out and carefully structured arguments with a dose of sarcastic humor added for effect. It seems one would be better off remaining in Twain’s good graces rather than to risk becoming a target for his just but vicious pen.

Where Is Mark Twain? is a rare collection of fresh material from an author long ago past. Through his finished and unfinished work one gains a new appreciation for Twain, his writing process, and how he decided what he would and would not publish—at least during his lifetime. The collection is full of funny, interesting, poignant, and consistently still relevant selections of Twain’s prose. The collection also manages to span all the genres he experimented with ranging over almost the entire expanse of his literary career. Ironically, unlike many of Twain's other works the nature of this book allows the reader to put it down and pick it back up later without missing a beat. However, quite similarly to the rest of Twain's work, the reader probably won't want to do so.