Mark Twain's autobiography to be in a bookstore near you

[Jerry Peterson]

In November.

And this will be the unexpurgated edition. In it is everything Twain dictated to his secretary during the last four years of his life. He died in 1910.

Twain specified that the most controversial parts of the manuscript be left out of any printed editions for a century, lest those sections damage Twain’s image or his reputation.

Said he in his instructions back in 1906, “From the first, second, third and fourth editions all sound and sane expressions of opinion must be left out. There may be a market for that kind of wares a century from now. There is no hurry. Wait and see.”

He was right. There is a market today. The University of California Press publishes the first of three volumes of the Twain autobiography in November. By the time UC Press brings out the third volume, half of the material in the three books will have seen print for the first time. That’s how much the editors of the 1924, 1940, and 1959 editions had cut.

They excised Twain at his feistiest, at his most critical of wars and Wall Street . . . and tamer stuff, too.

Well, it’s all here now. And those who have read advance copies of the first volume like it.

You should read New York Times writer Larry Rohter’s story on the Twain autobiography published last month. Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/books/10twain.html

And also click through to NPR. There listen to Weekend Edition host Scott Simon’s story on the book and his interview with Calvin Trillin. Here’s that link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128584709

Tomorrow: A book you wouldn't know if you weren't reading this