Mark Twain: A Biography. Volume II, Part 2: 1886-1900

This volume captures Samuel Clemens at the height of his powers and the edge of his greatest sorrows. Albert Bigelow Paine, drawing on intimate access to Twain's papers and inner circle, chronicles the years when the world's most famous author navigated both spectacular success and near-financial ruin. Here is Twain the devoted reader, spending the winter of 1886-87 lost in Robert Browning's poetry, reading aloud to friends with the same verve he once brought to rough Mississippi steamboats. Here too is Twain the outspoken critic, dismissive of contemporary literary fashion and retreating into beloved favorites as age and weariness crept in. Most haunting is the portrait of the businessman: his obsessive investment in the Paige typesetting machine, a venture that would consume years of his life and nearly bankrupt him. Through it all runs the thread of his marriage to Livy, his growing political voice, and the shadows gathering. This is biography at its granular best, rendering the texture of daily life for an American icon while hinting at the tragedies to come.