Chasing the last laugh : Mark Twain's raucous and redemptive round-the-world comedy tour / Richard Zacks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zacks, Richard, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910--Travel.

Twain, Mark.

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910.

Authors, American--19th century--Biography.

Authors, American.

Travel.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 450 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Doubleday, [2016]

Summary:

"From Richard Zacks, bestselling author of The Pirate Hunter and Island of Vice, a rich and lively account of Mark Twain's late-life adventures abroad In 1895, at age sixty, Mark Twain was dead broke and miserable--his recent novels had been critical and commercial failures, and he was bankrupted by his inexplicable decision to run a publishing company. His wife made him promise to pay every debt back in full, so Twain embarked on an around-the-world comedy lecture tour that would take him from the dusty small towns of the American West to the faraway lands of India, South Africa, Australia, and beyond. Richard Zacks' rich and entertaining narrative provides a portrait of Twain as complicated, vibrant individual, and showcases the biting wit and skeptical observation that made him one of the greatest of all American writers. Twain remained abroad for five years, a time of struggle and wild experiences -- and ultimately redemption, as he rediscovered his voice as a writer and humorist, and returned, wiser and celebrated. As he said in his famous reply to an article about his demise, "the report of my death is an exaggeration." Weaving together a trove of sources, including newspaper accounts, correspondence, and unpublished material from Berkeley's ongoing Twain Project, Zacks chronicles a chapter of Twain's life as complex as the author himself, full of foolishness and bad choices, but also humor, self-discovery, and triumph"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Joys of Self-Publishing 5

Chapter 2 Printing Mogul 13

Chapter 3 Safe Eggs and Broken Eggs 21

Chapter 4 The Trials of Paige and Joan of Arc 36

Chapter 5 An Odd Homecoming 46

Chapter 6 Not Enough Time to Curse 56

Chapter 7 Twain Grilled, Livy Burnt 65

Chapter 8 America: Dry Run for the World 71

Chapter 9 Traveling with a Volcano 88

Chapter 10 Separation 110

Chapter 11 At Sea 117

Chapter 12 Greetings, Mate 126

Chapter 13 Cashing in on the Platypus 141

Chapter 14 Maoriland 162

Chapter 15 Birthdays and Longing 181

Chapter 16 To India 194

Chapter 17 Bombay! 199

Chapter 18 Eyes Wide 206

Chapter 19 Rails, Riches and Elephants 218

Chapter 20 Holy Cities 225

Chapter 21 The Heart of the British Raj 242

Chapter 22 Himalayan Joy Ride 252

Chapter 23 Mutiny on the Ganges 260

Chapter 24 Feverish in the Pink City 273

Chapter 25 Dreams at Sea 285

Chapter 26 Africa 288

Chapter 27 Reuniting the Family 309

Chapter 28 Alone in London 325

Chapter 29 Helen Keller 329

Chapter 30 A London Re rival 334

Chapter 31 Charitable Schemes 344

Chapter 32 Joys of Payback 352

Chapter 33 Back in the Game 365

Chapter 34 Homecoming 384.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780385536448

0385536445

OCLC:

928136807

Online:

Cover image