Uh, Chernow, buddy, the "controversial asides and provocative opinions" are why we read Mark Twain. Bloated and undisciplined? Look in the mirror, pal. That's YOU with this book!
(I read CONNECTICUT for the first time when I was 12. It has always been one of my Twain faves!)
In 1922, Van Wyck Brooks launched a ferocious (and arguably sexist) attack on Livy for "sanitizing" Mark Twain's prose. Brooks's book demands a more nuanced corrective of Livy's editorial contributions. Chernow, sadly, isn't quite up to the task in his new bio.
Brutal book review. 📝 'Grant' was a dreadful slog too.
A New Biography of Mark Twain Doesn’t Have Much of What Made Him Great
"His book is an endurance test, one that skimps on the things that formed Twain and made him the most lucid, profound, unpredictable and irascibly witty American of his time. Hardy will be the souls who tour this air-conditioned edifice all the way through and glimpse the exit sign."
It's Chernow time!
The Impossible Contradictions of Mark Twain
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/05/05/mark-twain-ron-chernow-book-review
#HackerNews #MarkTwain #Contradictions #Literature #BookReview #RonChernow #NewYorker
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