Mark Twain wanted to write a completely candid autobiography, and he believed that it would not be possible to hide any “shirkings of the truth.” He realized that he could not reveal his most private thoughts in a work that would be published during his lifetime. Only from the grave could he speak freely without fear of being judged, and “mangle and mutilate” people without wounding their feelings. Ms. Smith, editor of the Autobiography of Mark Twain, will discuss Mark Twain’s numerous observations about the difficulty of speaking the truth and the strategies he adopted to remove his inhibitions, illustrating her talk with passages he suppressed during his lifetime. In conclusion, she will answer the question of whether he did in fact speak his “whole, frank mind.”
Volume 1, which was published in 2010, was an instant best-seller with rave reviews and hailed as the capstone of Twain’s career. The eagerly-awaited Volume 2 delves deeper into Mark Twain’s life, uncovering the many roles he played in his private and public worlds highlighted by his characteristic blend of humor and ire.
Harriet Elinor Smith is an editor at the Mark Twain Project, which is housed within the Mark Twain Papers, the world's largest archive of primary materials by this major American writer. Under the direction of General Editor Robert H. Hirst, the Project's editors are producing the first comprehensive edition of all of Mark Twain's writings.