Ego & Opportunity
Nov. 23rd, 2005 08:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mallorys_cameraBought my mother-in-law Ron Powers' bio of Mark Twain (early Xmas shopping.) Naturally, since I am incapable of allowing a book to pass through my hands without opening it, I'm reading it – very, very carefully so as not to get hot sauce, ice cream splatters or dog hair on any of its pristine pages.
I love well-written biographies and now that I've seen Deadwood, I figure every letter Clemens wrote to William Dean Howells really began, "Esteemed Cocksucker."
My favorite Mark Twain anecdote:
Despite the fact that Clemens made what for those times was a shitload of money off his writing, when he hit his late fifties a series of bad investments left him deeply in debt. A ruthless capitalist type befriended him, helped him get back on track. At a dinner party, Clemens was pulled aside by a guest who murmured, "Your friend Rogers seems like a good fellow. What a pity his money is tainted."
"Twice tainted!" Mark Twain agreed. "T'ain't yours, and t'ain't mine."
I love well-written biographies and now that I've seen Deadwood, I figure every letter Clemens wrote to William Dean Howells really began, "Esteemed Cocksucker."
My favorite Mark Twain anecdote:
Despite the fact that Clemens made what for those times was a shitload of money off his writing, when he hit his late fifties a series of bad investments left him deeply in debt. A ruthless capitalist type befriended him, helped him get back on track. At a dinner party, Clemens was pulled aside by a guest who murmured, "Your friend Rogers seems like a good fellow. What a pity his money is tainted."
"Twice tainted!" Mark Twain agreed. "T'ain't yours, and t'ain't mine."
