“Inventing Mark Twain” by Andrew J Hoffman. First Edition, 1997. Hardcover

Inventing Mark Twain: The Lives of Samuel Langhorne Clemens • Hardcover • William Morrow, First Edition, 1997 • 608 Pages Condition: Very Good. Dustjacket is Missing —————————————————————————— This provocative, definitive biography explores the revealing and resonant contradictions between the true character of Samuel Clemens and his self-created alter ego, Mark Twain. Richly detailed and filled with new information from primary sources, Inventing Mark Twain traces an extraordinary life that led from Mississippi steamboats to the California goldfields to cultural immortality as America's national philosopher. ————————————- REVIEW Although biographers have long distinguished between Samuel Langhorne Clemens the man and Mark Twain the pen name, Inventing Mark Twain delves farther than previous biographies into the evolving relationship between the two. Although Mr. Hoffman's book at times overemphasizes Clemens's dark side, it is generally evenhanded and convincing, supported by an imposing body of evidence, some of it never tapped before. - The New York Times Book Review, David S. Reynolds