Our greatest writer? This person? From such a mediocre and undistinguished background? Something is amiss. Let the facts speak for themselves:
* born in an obscure village
* the sixth of seven children
* a sickly child who apparently stayed mostly indoors until age 9
* raised in a backwater river town
* grew up in poverty and near destitution
* fewer than six years of formal education in a country school
* apprenticed at age 11 to an older brother as a typesetter in a small print shop
* at age 18 left home to try his luck in a larger city, moving from job to job
* worked for several years as a boatman
* enlisted in a military unit and deserted after two weeks
* moved again to escape the war
* failed at various enterprises, including mining
* went to work for local newspapers
* started writing articles and sketches, but suspiciously under such odd names as “Josh” or “Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass” before settling on a consistent pen name
Obviously, a foul conspiracy is afoot. Who really wrote all of those novels and stories and sketches? Who is the real genius and author of these incomparable works? Who is the person William Dean Howells referred to as “the Lincoln of our Literature?” Certainly not the pathetic character whose early circumstances and life are outlined above. Let us pursue the truth, wherever it may lead. Let us ask the crucial question:
Who really wrote the works ascribed to Mark Twain?
Richard