I started reading the book over the weekend and am really enjoying it so far. I'm glad that we are finally reading something by Mark Twain especially since I grew up along the Mississippi River. I can remember in elementary school visiting his home in Hannibal, Missouri and also going to the Mark Twain Cave and Meramec Caverns. Tom Sawyer and Jesse James - cool adventures for a kid.
http://www.historyhappenshere.org/node/7442
I've also been to the old mining town of Virginia City which has a museum where Mark Twain wrote for the Territorial Express. I remember thinking how very different Nevada was from Missouri and what it must have been like in his time period in the Old Wild West. Supposedly this is where he decided to use the pen name of Mark Twain. He traveled West because his brother became Secretary of the Nevada Territory. Someday I really want to read
Roughing It which covers these Western adventures and his impressions.
http://www.visitvirginiacitynv.com/a...#mktwainmuseum
I wasn't aware that Ken Burns did a documentary film on Mark Twain. I found this website for it that has a very unique interactive scrapbook.
http://www.pbs.org/marktwain/index.html
Quote:
Mark Twain was a lifelong creator and keeper of scrapbooks. He took them with him everywhere and filled them with souvenirs, pictures, and articles about his books and performances. But in time, he grew tired of the lost glue, rock-hard paste, and the swearing that resulted from the standard scrapbook process. So, he came up with the idea of printing thin strips of glue on the pages to make updates neat and easy to do. In 1872, he patented his “self-pasting” scrapbook, and by 1901, at least 57 different types of his albums were available. It would be his only invention that ever made money.
Inspired by his invention, this interactive scrapbook tells Twain’s life story through a collection of texts, photos, illustrations, and clippings from his day. To begin exploring, click one of the chapters to the right.
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