Posted by pancho from pool0267.cvx24-bradley.dialup.earthlink.net (209.179.211.12) on Saturday, January 18, 2003 at 9:46AM :
In Reply to: Yep, Twain, A. Bierce, Mencken etc. posted by andreas from dtm2-t8-2.mcbone.net (62.104.210.95) on Saturday, January 18, 2003 at 9:20AM :
Hey...good for you. You managed five groups of two sentences without developing delerium tremens.
Twain had a far more complex character. He coined the term Gilded Age...and if that wasn't enough he lost his fortune trying to be an inventor/industrialist with his Paige Typsetter. Not only that but he went bankrupt, like any good American...refused to rob his creditors and embarked on a world wide tour of public readings that took him to Australia and India and paid every penny back that he owed.
He was everywhere represented and participated in almost every facet of American life...including pilot on a Mississipi Riverboat...and reporter from the Holy Land.
Twain stands at the top of American genius for the breadth of his accomplishments and daring. And he was funny as hell. People said you had to hear him speak to get the full flavor of what he wrote. Hell he was even a stand up comic!!!
I visited his home in Hartford a couple of times...what I wouldn't have given to play billiards with Twain and Howells in the third floor parlor. You can just feel the good times..the whiskey and cigars...the conversations...the combined experiences of his friends...what times!
From Twain to Bush...
-- pancho
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