The Autobiography of Mark Twain. The Complete and
Authoritative Edition. Volume 1. ed. Harriet Elinor Smith et al.
Berkeley, California: The University of California Press, 2010
As reviewed by Ted Odenwald
In 1906, after many unsatisfactory starts, Mark Twain finally “…hit upon the right way to do an autobiography.” His method was a type of stream-of-consciousness, without regard to chronology. The writer should “…start it at no particular time of your life, wander with your free will all over your life; talk only about the thing which interests you at the moment; drop it the moment its interest threatens to pale, and turn your talk upon the new and more interesting thing that has intruded itself into your mind meantime.” Given his history of balking when expected to follow traditional patterns, Twain’s iconoclastic approach yields a portal into the character of the great American author, through his meanderings among reminiscences of people, places, and events.
The best material for autobiography, according to Twain, is the incident, big or small, which is most interesting to the writer at the moment: “…that is what human life consists of-little incidents and big incidents, and they are all the same size if you let them alone. An autobiography that leaves out the little things and enumerates only the big ones is no proper picture of the man’s life at all; his life consists of his feelings and his interests.” The writer investigates these events in order to “hang his feelings on”-
feelings that will reveal the whole self, the true self.
Twain uses a variety of prompts to begin his reminiscences; he turns to his diary, his speeches, newspaper reports, transcripts of speeches, and even his daughter, Suzie’s diary. With this mixture of stimuli, he attempts to use “… the vivid things of the present to make contrast with the memories of like things in the past….”
Clearly, his family meant a great deal to Twain. Some of the most poignant passages relate to his beloved daughter, Suzie, who died tragically of meningitis at the age of 24. Twain begins several passages with excerpts from Suzie’s diary and her attempted biography of her father; he reacts to her entries with his observations of her character-or his reaction to her observations about him. The love and mutual respect radiating from both sides of this “exchange” support claims by several Twain biographers that Suzie was his favorite child. Also poignant are the loving depictions of his wife, Olivia, who had passed away a few years before he began to focus upon his autobiographical dictations seriously.
There are not many surprises in this work. As expected, the reader finds wit-sometimes warm, sometimes self-deprecating, and sometimes ferocious (as in his attacks upon American imperialism in the Spanish-American War and in the Philippines-or as in his attacks on heartless capitalists). What makes this work unique is his “voice,” taken in dictation in the closing years of his life. This voice has been hidden -by Twain’s own choice-for one hundred years, an interval which would protect him and his heirs from angry reactions and reprisals.
This publication, the first of three volumes, contains a great deal of scholarly information from the editorial staff-information regarding methods used to analyze and utilize four earlier autobiographical attempts that had been scrapped. This work also includes exhaustive footnotes amplifying Twain’s recollections of individuals and events-even correcting factual errors that Twain had recalled inaccurately.
The casual reader will delight in becoming more deeply acquainted with one of America’s beloved writers/humorists/social critics. The scholar, who has anxiously awaited this new collection of insights into a great creative mind, will also be impressed by the tremendous efforts of the editorial staff, which exhaustively investigate the great and small incidents and people who meant so much to Twain.
Ted Odenwald and his wife, Shirley have lived in Oakland for 40 years. He taught HS English at Glen Rock High School for all of those years plus one more. Now he is enjoying time spent with his family, singing in the North Jersey Chorus and quenching his wanderlust. Ted is also the Worship Leader at the Ramapo Valley Baptist Church in Oakland.