We spent a fun couple of hours in Hannibal where every other business has been named after Mark Twain. After reading Life on the Mississippi I love him even more than before.
I’ve been watching plenty of movies on TCM but seldom without interruption and almost all not new to me. Yesterday I scored with Harry Beaumont’s Faithless (1932). Tallulah Bankhead is a wealthy heiress who falls for Robert Montgomery’s ad exec. He wants them to live on his earnings but she prefers the high life. By the end of the film the Depression has driven both to their knees. I enjoyed the performances but the film seemed too long for its story and then ended really abruptly.
We’re cruising the river today. Next stop Bettendorf, Iowa.
Love Tom’s Fence! What’s not to love about Mark Twain? Even his failures are interesting and funny.
Did I mention that a friend of mine recently published a book about Twain’s lack of business acumen? “How Not to Get Rich: The Financial Misadventures of Mark Twain” by Alan Pell Crawford.
Well he couldn’t be good at everything!
I love Life on the Mississippi so much! Especially where he seems to blame the Civil War on Sir Walter Scott.
Next I want to try his letters or his autobiography.
I’ve been trying to read more Mark Twain over the last few years. I read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court last year. I read Letters from Earth this year. (Highly recommended! Not published for years after his death, partly because of how brutally critical it is toward christianity.)
My library has a copy of The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain and I checked it out of the library two or three years ago and read The Mysterious Stranger, The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg, The Diary of Adam and Eve and some of the other longer works. I highly recommend The Stolen White Elephant. It’s a hilarious parody of police procedure.
Since I took back the Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain, I don’t check it out anymore, I try to read a story every time I’m at the library. Two to three times a month, I’ll be returning books or using the computer, and I’ll get The Complete Short Stories and find a comfy spot and read another story. He’s amazing. I keep thinking there should be a half hour show called Mark Twain Showcase or something and it adapts his short stories. I love the idea of Seth Rogen as the chief detective in The Stolen White Elephant,
So much to look forward to!