Originally published: c2005.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 683-689) and index.

"Something at once awful and sublime" (1835-39) -- "The white town, drowsing ..." (1839) -- Of words and the Word (1840-42) -- The Hannibal decade (1843-53) -- Apprentice (1848-51) -- Rambler (1852-53) -- "So far from home ..." (1853-56) -- The language of water (1856-58) -- Ranger (1858-61) -- Washoe (1861-62) -- A journalistic counterculture (1862-63) -- "Mark Twain-more of him" (1863) -- Code Duello (1863-64) -- A villainous backwoods, sketch (1864-65) -- " ... and I began to talk" (1865-66) -- On the road (1866-67) -- Back East (1867) -- "move-move-Move!" (1867) -- Pilgrims and sinners (1867) -- In the thrall of Mother Bear (October 1867-New Year's Day 1868) -- "A work humorously inclined ..." (February-July 1868) -- The girl in the miniature (July 1868-October 1868) -- American vandal (October-December 1868) -- "Quite worthy of the best" (1869) -- Fairyland (1870) -- "My hated nom de plume ..." (1871) -- Sociable Jimmy (1871-72) -- The lion of London (1872-73) -- Gilded (1873-74) -- Quarry Farm and Nook Farm (1874-75) -- The man in the moon (1875) -- "It befell yt one did breake wind ..." (1876) -- God's fool (1877) -- Abroad again (1878-79) -- "A personal hatred for humbug" (1880) -- "A powerful good time" (1881-82) -- "All right, then ..." (1882-83) -- The American novel (1884-85) -- Roll over, Lord Byron (1886-87) -- "I have fed so full on sorrows ..." (1887-90) -- "We are skimming along like paupers ..." (1891-June 1893) -- Savior (1893-94) -- Thunder-stroke (1895-96) -- Exile and return (1896-1900) -- Sitting in darkness (1900-1905)

Presents a biography of nineteenth-century American writer and humorist, Mark Twain, and chronicles his personal and professional life, including information on the landscape and events of his day, describing Twain as he lived.