Mark Twain by Ron Chernow review – the story of America's first literary celebrity, from the author of Hamilton

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Let's take a friendly, detailed walk through John Mullan's review of Ron Chernow's biography of Mark Twain, America's first true literary superstar. We'll go step by step through Twain's life and the book's key themes, highlighting the most memorable quotes and ideas, and making sure everything is easy to understand—even if you're not a Twain expert! 🌟

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Early Life: Samuel Clemens Becomes Mark Twain

• Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain's real name) grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, right on the banks of the Mississippi River. His childhood adventures—fishing, swimming, and exploring islands—would later inspire his most famous stories.
• At just 11 years old, he became a printer's apprentice at the Missouri Courier, learning the trade and earning a living.
• By 21, he was learning the ropes (literally!) of river piloting from Horace Bixby. At 23, he became a licensed steamboat pilot on the Mississippi. These experiences became the heart of his classic books, especially Life on the Mississippi and Huckleberry Finn.

"Mark twain" was the cry of a leadsman, who sounded the water with a rope and a weight and confirmed that the river was a safe two fathoms deep.

• This river term became his famous pen name—Mark Twain!

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The Rise to Fame: From Travel Writer to Superstar

• In his early 30s, Twain joined a group of American tourists traveling to Europe and the Middle East. He did this mainly to gather material for his book The Innocents Abroad.

• The book was a smash hit:

  It was "the rocket that lifted Mark Twain to literary stardom".
  (It was also the best-selling book of his lifetime!)

• Twain's fame only grew with the publication of Huckleberry Finn in 1884. Chernow points out:

  Having the unlettered, 14-year-old Huck narrate the story meant it became one of the great demonstrations of "how expressive colloquial language could be".

• Twain became a celebrity performer as well as a writer, reading his works to packed audiences in the US and England. People loved the "twang of his drawl".

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Celebrity Life: The World's First Literary Superstar

• Twain was hugely famous—he met presidents, dined with European royalty, and was cheered by crowds wherever he went.
• He was "the bracing, irreverently humorous voice of America," much like Charles Dickens in England.
• He even took his work-in-progress, Huckleberry Finn, on tour to over 100 American towns and cities, earning a fortune.

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Controversy and Complexity: Twain's Darker Sides

• Twain's books, while brilliant, often contain disturbing elements. For example, the illustrations in Life on the Mississippi use racial and ethnic stereotypes that are uncomfortable today.

• Huckleberry Finn is especially controversial:

  As he describes his adventures with the escaped slave, Jim, he uses the N-word some 200 times. This now presents "an almost insuperable problem for educators".

• Chernow notes that Twain "never became as enlightened as Chernow… would wish." His attitudes, especially on race, are complicated and sometimes troubling.

• In his 70s, Twain developed odd relationships with young girls he called his "angelfish":

  "I collect pets: young girls from ten to sixteen years old who are pretty and sweet and naive and innocent." Chernow hopes that, if not innocent, the preoccupation at least led nowhere.

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Money Troubles: The Curse of Get-Rich-Quick Schemes

• Despite being the highest-earning American writer of the 19th century, Twain was plagued by money worries.

• He inherited a tendency for risky ventures from his father:

  The son of a feckless father, he was drawn to get-rich-quick schemes, and always being conned.

• Twain lost huge sums (millions in today's money) on wild investments, especially in new technology. He even lost much of his wife's inheritance.

• Convinced publishers were cheating him, he started his own publishing house—which bankrupted him.

• At age 60, he went on a worldwide speaking tour (Australia, India, South Africa) to pay off his debts.

• Even after clearing his debts, he lost more money on a "miraculous" health food called Plasmon.

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Family Tragedies and Illness

• Twain's life was marked by personal loss and illness:

  • His son died of diphtheria as a baby.
  • His eldest daughter, Susy, died of meningitis in her 20s.
  • His youngest daughter, Jean, had epilepsy, which was a source of shame and anxiety for Twain.
  • His wife, Livy, was ill for years before dying in 1904.

• Twain was a skeptic about doctors but still fell for every "quack" cure he could find.

• After Livy's death, Twain relied on Isabel Lyon, a bookish woman who became his "de facto mistress (minus the romance)".

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A Life Documented: Letters, Notebooks, and Autobiography

• Twain left behind a mountain of material:

  • Thousands of letters
  • 50 volumes of notebooks
  • Half a million words of autobiography (dictated in his last years)
  • Countless interviews and lecture transcripts

• He was interviewed more than any other writer of his time, almost as if he was "trying to supply future biographers with material."

• When he felt wronged, he wrote obsessively detailed accounts—he even recorded his dreams!

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Chernow's Achievement: Bringing Twain to Life

• Chernow's biography is huge (over 1,000 pages!) but animated and readable.
• He brings out the "energy and humour of Twain's very American prose," even as he explores the darker and more complicated sides of Twain's life.

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Final Thoughts

• Mark Twain was a pioneer of American celebrity culture, a brilliant writer, and a deeply flawed, fascinating human being.
• Chernow's biography captures all the glory, humor, tragedy, and contradiction of Twain's life.

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"Somewhere deep inside it, almost hidden, glows the energy and humour of Twain's very American prose."

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If you're interested in American history, literature, or just love a good story about a complicated genius, this biography is a must-read! 📚✨

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Mark Twain by Ron Chernow is published by Allen Lane (£40). To support the Guardian order your copy at guardianbookshop.com.