american literature
biography
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celebrated writings
correspondents
deeply moving
engaging
epistolary
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extensive research
fan mail
fascinating profiles
feel good
great writers
heartfelt
historical
history
jumping frogs
letters and correspondence
life lessons
lively
mark twain
pathos
pen pals
perceptive insights
personal stories
published collection
reader letters
riotous humor
samuel l clemens
startling comments
uplifting stories
Product details
- ISBN 9780520261341
- Weight: 590g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 21 Apr 2013
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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A voracious pack-rat, Mark Twain hoarded his readers' letters as did few of his contemporaries. Dear Mark Twain collects 200 of these letters written by a diverse cross-section of correspondents from around the world - children, farmers, schoolteachers, businessmen, preachers, railroad clerks, inmates of mental institutions, con artists, and even a former president. It is a unique and groundbreaking book - the first published collection of reader letters to any writer of Mark Twain's time. Its contents afford a rare and exhilarating glimpse into the sensibilities of nineteenth-century people while revealing the impact Samuel L. Clemens had on his readers. Clemens' own and often startling comments and replies are also included. R. Kent Rasmussen's extensive research provides fascinating profiles of the correspondents, whose personal stories are often as interesting as their letters. Ranging from gushing fan appreciations and requests for help and advice to suggestions for writing projects and stinging criticisms, the letters are filled with perceptive insights, pathos, and unintentional but often riotous humor.
Many are deeply moving, more than a few are hilarious, some may be shocking, but none are dull.
R. Kent Rasmussen is a prolific and widely respected scholar of Mark Twain. Among his books are Mark Twain A to Z, The Quotable Mark Twain, Bloom's How to Write About Mark Twain and Critical Companion to Mark Twain. He is also the editor of the recently published Penguin Classics edition of Mark Twain's Autobiographical Writings.
