Mark Twain

After laughing their way through his classic and beloved depictions of nineteenth-century American life, few readers would suspect that Mark Twain's last years were anything but happy and joyful. They would be wrong. As Hamlin Hill reveals in "Mark Twain: God's Fool", contrary to the myth perpetrated by his literary executors, Twain ended his life as a frustrated writer plagued by paranoia. He suffered personal tragedies, got involved in questionable business ventures, and was a demanding and controlling father and husband. As Hill's book demonstrates, the difficult circumstances of Twain's personal life make his humorous output all the more surprising and admirable.