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Cruiser's avatar

Mark Twain left instructions to reveal his autobiography 100 years after his death. Will you read it?

Asked by Cruiser (40454points) May 25th, 2010

Mark Twain left instructions to reveal his autobiography 100 years after his death and that day has finally come. In November the University of California, Berkeley, where the manuscript is in a vault, will release the first volume of Mark Twain’s autobiography. The eventual trilogy will run to half a million words, and shed new light on the quintessentially American novelist. Will you read this?

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26 Answers

zenele's avatar

Where do I sign up?

I just knew that rumours of his death were exaggerated.

gemiwing's avatar

Hell Yes

I’m not the World’s biggest fan of his stories- but I love his other work. Plus, I’m a riverboat dork so it all just fits in perfectly.

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

Yes.I can’t wait to buy that book :)

Classic—a book which people praise and don’t read.
– Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar

gemiwing's avatar

would it be public domain?

Rufus_T_Firefly's avatar

Sounds like an interesting read. Put me on the waiting list.

Cruiser's avatar

@gemiwing not sure about that and doubt it cause these books are a freaking gold mine and will surely be a best seller for years to come. Somebody is going to make some serious coin here.

Read more here…
http://www.fark.com/cgi/go.pl?i=5335724&s=1

zenele's avatar

@gemiwing After 100 years – yes, I think.

jrpowell's avatar

I love Twain. I will read it.

stranger_in_a_strange_land's avatar

I’ll certainly read them; most likely whatever expensive deluxe edition comes out first. I’m sure some lawyers will get fat fees arguing over the copyright issue. As I understand it, copyright only extends 70 years after the death of the author; there are likely tricky loopholes though.

gemiwing's avatar

@Cruiser thank you for the link.

I do hope that monies made will go towards a museum or library/literary fund though.

aprilsimnel's avatar

Hoo boy! I can hardly wait to read it. He was very smart and funny.

liminal's avatar

Yes. Most definitely. Thank you for the heads up!

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

Absolutely, yes.

GrumpyGram's avatar

is this for real? I Adore autobiograhies!!

Vunessuh's avatar

I feel sad that I’m the only one on this thread, but probably not.
Not because I don’t adore Mark Twain, but because I get severely antsy when I try to read a book, manuscript, whatever. I wouldn’t be able to sit through it. Unless it was incredibly interesting and captivating right from the start and totally pulled me in.
@lucillelucillelucille can read it and tell me all about it when she’s done. Just give me the short version before I smack you in the face though. XD

Cruiser's avatar

@Vunessuh It is shaping up to be a juicy read….you just might enjoy it enough to sit still for stuff like this…
A section of the memoir will detail his little-known but scandalous relationship with Isabel Van Kleek Lyon, who became his secretary after the death of his wife Olivia in 1904. Twain was so close to Lyon that she once bought him an electric vibrating sex toy. But she was abruptly sacked in 1909, after the author claimed she had “hypnotised” him into giving her power of attorney over his estate.
and
In other sections of the autobiography, Twain makes cruel observations about his supposed friends, acquaintances and one of his landladies.

Vunessuh's avatar

@Cruiser Wait a minute. You didn’t say anything about sex toys. Count me in. XD

Vunessuh's avatar

@lucillelucillelucille I was so moved, that brought tears to my eyes. Tell me stories more often. :D

xxii's avatar

I will probably read it at some point, but I won’t rush out and buy the first copy.

BoBo1946's avatar

oh yes….He was the greatest!

downtide's avatar

Wow, yes I would buy that.

BoBo1946's avatar

Mark Twain had so many great quotes…love to read them! Here are a few of my favorites!

“Always tell the truth; then you don’t have to remember anything. ”
“We are always too busy for our children; we never give them the time or interest they deserve. We lavish gifts upon them; but the most precious gift, our personal association, which means so much to them, we give grudgingly.”
“Anyone who can only think of one way to spell a word obviously lacks imagination.”
“Heaven for climate. Hell for company.”
“The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man that can not read them.”
“Love your enemy, it will scare the hell out of them.”

zenele's avatar

@BoBo1946 Thanks for reminding me of those. I shall revisit my fave phrase and quote site for the remainder.

BoBo1946's avatar

@zenele and thank you my friend!

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