This morning I finally finished the "autobiography" part of Mark Twain's massive three-volume Autobiography, a collection of memories and ruminations that he did not want published until 100 years after his death (which occurred in 1910). At that death, as Twain People know, Halley's Comet was in the sky--just as it had been at his birth in 1835. (Who says Coincidence is overrated?!?!)
The third volume, published last year, is, like the other two (2010, 2013), massive in size and weight. It includes not only his autobiographical writing but a lot of scholarly accouterments--introduction, an appendix (or twenty--okay, just 8 appendixes), comprehensive notes, etc. In fact, Twain's text ends on page 310; the last page of the index is #747. So ... I've got a bit of a way to go on my flight aboard this 747.
I'm going to blog about the contents a bit more thoroughly on Sunday, but I wanted to get these initial details "out there" first. Twain's text ends with one of the most horrible events in his life--the shocking death of his daughter Jean late in 1909--and I'll get into that a bit on Sunday, as well.
I had the privilege of reviewing the second volume in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on November 17, 2013 (online: Nov. 14), and here's a link to it.
So ... just a little preview of what's coming on Sunday ...
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