Dangerous intimacy : the untold story of Mark Twain's final years

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書誌事項

Dangerous intimacy : the untold story of Mark Twain's final years

Karen Lystra

University of California Press, c2004

  • pbk

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注記

Includes bibliographical references and index

内容説明・目次

巻冊次

ISBN 9780520233232

内容説明

The last phase of Mark Twain's life is sadly familiar: crippled by losses and tragedies, America's greatest humorist sank into a deep and bitter depression. It is also, the author of this book argues, wrong. The book recovers Twain's final years as they really were - lived in the shadow of deception and prejudice, but also in the light of the author's unflagging energy and enthusiasm. "Dangerous Intimacy" relates the story of how, shortly after his wife's death in 1904, Twain basked in the attentions of Isabel Lyon, his flirtatious - and calculating - secretary. Lyon desperately wanted to marry her boss, who was almost 30 years her senior. She managed to exile Twain's youngest daughter, Jean, who had epilepsy. With the help of Twain's assistant, Ralph Ashcroft, who fraudulently acquired power of attorney over the author's finances, Lyon nearly succeeded in assuming complete control over Twain's life and estate. Fortunately, Twain recognized the plot being woven around him just in time. So rife with twists and turns as to defy belief, the story nonetheless comes to life in the letters and diaries of those who witnessed it firsthand: Katy the housekeeper, Jean, Lyon, and others whose own distinctive, perceptive, often amusing voices take us straight into the heart of the Clemens household. Just as Twain extricated himself from the lies, prejudice and self-delusion that almost turned him into an American Lear, so Karen Lystra liberates the author's last decade from a century of popular misunderstanding. In this book we see how, late in life, this American icon discovered a deep kinship with his youngest child and continued to explore the precarious balance of love and pain that is one of the trademarks of his work.

目次

Acknowledgments Preface A Note on Names 1. Mark Twain--and Sam's Women 2. Heartbreak 3. Rearranging the Household 4. Looking for Love 5. A Pact with the Devil 6. Life in the Sanitarium 7. Someone to Love Him and Pet Him 8. A Viper to Her Bosom 9. Innocence at Home 10. Stormfield 11. An American Lear 12. Illusions of Love 13. Unraveling 14. The Exile Returns 15. Confrontation 16. A Formidable Adversary 17. False Exoneration 18. The Funniest Joke in the World 19. Melting Marble with Ice 20. The End of My Autobiography Epilogue: How Little One May Tell Notes Index
巻冊次

pbk ISBN 9780520250000

内容説明

The last phase of Mark Twain's life is sadly familiar: Crippled by losses and tragedies, America's greatest humorist sank into a deep and bitter depression. It is also wrong. This book recovers Twain's final years as they really were - lived in the shadow of deception and prejudice, but also in the light of the author's unflagging energy and enthusiasm. Dangerous Intimacy relates the story of how, shortly after his wife's death in 1904, Twain basked in the attentions of Isabel Lyon, his flirtatious - and calculating - secretary. Lyon desperately wanted to marry her boss, who was almost thirty years her senior. She managed to exile Twain's youngest daughter, Jean, who had epilepsy. With the help of Twain's assistant, Ralph Ashcroft, who fraudulently acquired power of attorney over the author's finances, Lyon nearly succeeded in assuming complete control over Twain's life and estate. Fortunately, Twain recognized the plot being woven around him just in time. So rife with twists and turns as to defy belief, the story nonetheless comes to undeniable, vibrant life in the letters and diaries of those who witnessed it firsthand: Katy the housekeeper, Jean, Lyon, and others whose own distinctive, perceptive, often amusing voices take us straight into the heart of the Clemens household. Just as Twain extricated himself from the lies, prejudice, and self-delusion that almost turned him into an American Lear, so Karen Lystra liberates the author's last decade from a century of popular misunderstanding. In this gripping book we at last see how, late in life, this American icon discovered a deep kinship with his youngest child and continued to explore the precarious balance of love and pain that is one of the trademarks of his work.

目次

Acknowledgments Preface A Note on Names 1. Mark Twain--and Sam's Women 2. Heartbreak 3. Rearranging the Household 4. Looking for Love 5. A Pact with the Devil 6. Life in the Sanitarium 7. Someone to Love Him and Pet Him 8. A Viper to Her Bosom 9. Innocence at Home 10. Stormfield 11. An American Lear 12. Illusions of Love 13. Unraveling 14. The Exile Returns 15. Confrontation 16. A Formidable Adversary 17. False Exoneration 18. The Funniest Joke in the World 19. Melting Marble with Ice 20. The End of My Autobiography Epilogue: How Little One May Tell Notes Index

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