Laura E. Skandera Trombley's Books

Mark Twain in the Company of Women

By: Laura E. Skandera Trombley

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Mark Twain in the Company of Women

By: Laura E. Skandera Trombley

The field of Mark Twain biography has been dominated by men, and Samuel Clemens himself - riverboat pilot, Western correspondent, silver prospector, world traveler - has been traditionally portrayed as a man's man. The publication of Laura E. Skandera-Trombley's Mark Twain in the Company of Women, however, marks a significant departure from conventional scholarship. Skandera-Trombley, the first woman to write a scholarly biography of Mark Twain, contends that Clemens intentionally surrounded himself with women, and that his capacity to produce extended fictions had almost as much to do with the environment shaped by his female family as with the talent and genius of the writer himself. Women helped Clemens to define his boundaries, both personal and literary. Women shaped his life, edited his books, and provided models for his fictional characters. Clemens read and corresponded with female authors, and often actively promoted their careers. Skandera-Trombley seeks to combine a biographical study of Clemens's life with his beloved wife, Olivia (Livy) Langdon, and their three daughters, Susy, Clara, and Jean, with new readings of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. Several crucial areas are investigated: the nature of Clemens's family participation in his writing process, the degree to which their experiences as women during the mid- and late nineteenth century affected his writing, and the extent to which the loss of his family may have impeded and ultimately ended his ability to write lengthy narratives. Skandera-Trombley points out that in marrying Livy, Clemens not only joined a family of substantial means, but also entered one active in thesuffragist, abolitionist, and other reformist movements, which had deep roots in the progressive community of Elmira, New York. Mark Twain in the Company of Women will be of interest to Twain scholars and readers as well as students in American studies, women's studies, nineteenth-century history, and political and cultural studies.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

252

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0812216199

ISBN 13

9780812216196

Mark Twain's Other Woman

The Hidden Story of His Final Years

By: Laura Skandera Trombley

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Mark Twain's Other Woman

The Hidden Story of His Final Years

By: Laura Skandera Trombley

Laura Skandera Trombley, the preeminent Twain scholar at work today, reveals the never-before-read letters and daily journals of Isabel Lyon, Mark Twain’s last personal secretary. For six years, Isabel Lyon was responsible for running the aging Man in White’s chaotic household, nursing him through several illnesses and serving as his adoring audience. But after a dramatic breakup of their relationship, Twain ranted in personal letters that she was “a liar, a forger, a thief, a hypocrite, a drunkard, a sneak, a humbug, a traitor, a conspirator, a filthy-minded and salacious slut pining for seduction.” For decades, biographers omitted Isabel from the official Twain history at his decree. But now, the truth of the split is exposed at last in a story that sheds light on a lionized author’s final decade.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

353

Publisher

Vintage

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307474941

ISBN 13

9780307474940

Mark Twain in the Company of Women

By: Laura E. Skandera Trombley

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Mark Twain in the Company of Women

By: Laura E. Skandera Trombley

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

252

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0812216199

ISBN 13

9780812216196

Book's by Laura E. Skandera Trombley

Mark Twain in the Company of Women

Mark Twain in the Company of Women

Mark Twain's Other Woman

Mark Twain's Other Woman

Mark Twain in the Company of Women

Mark Twain in the Company of Women

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email