Mark Twain and the Colonel: Samuel L. Clemens, Theodore Roosevelt, and the Arrival of a New Century
Philip McFarland delivers hundreds of pages of solid anecdotes with quotes and details of life at the turn of the century....By the final page, the reader will know a lot about Twain as writer and man and much about Roosevelt's key policies, and will have toured a vanished America. One of his subjects wanted life to be "strenuous" and "dutiful"; the other wanted to mock those exhortations and light up another stogie and rack up some more billiard balls.(Wall Street Journal)The interplay between the two gargantuan lives leads biographer Philip McFarland to some fascinating trivia and unexpected role-reversals.(New York Post)What did two of the most famous Americans of the early 20th century have in common? In this interesting if overlong dual biography of President Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) and Mark Twain (1835–1910), McFarland (Loves of Harriet Beecher Stowe, 2007, etc.) seems bent on challenging the conventional wisdom as to which of these two Gilded Age giants had the better progressive credentials. In one corner stands Roosevelt, the war hero and manly man who busted the Standard Oil monopoly, protected national lands, and worked to improve labor conditions. He was also a defiant imperialist who thought it was the duty of America to spread civilization to backward, pagan countries, whether they wanted it or not. In the other corner stands the genius writer and humorist Twain, who helped expose the moral evil of slavery and thought the United States had no business helping “liberate” the Philippines from Spain. He was also a wealthy venture capitalist whose best friends were oil barons and thought government had no business telling John Rockefeller what to do. Roosevelt and Twain were alike in many ways: voluminous writers, beloved celebrities, wealthy men who enjoyed great success and suffered terrible personal tragedy and who opposed slavery but not white supremacy. McFarland’s story is both personal and political, focusing on the lives and philosophies of both subjects....The still-relevant contrast between these two American powerhouses is well told. Both men were consumed by domestic and international problems that continue to reverberate.(Kirkus Reviews)Author McFarland (Hawthorne in Concord) succeeds in his purpose of portraying the similarities and differences between two iconic American personages as they responded to the issues of their day—imperialism, racism, corporations, and the end of America’s westward movement—during the period from 1890 until Mark Twain’s death in 1910. Lyrically written and unobtrusively annotated, this book of musings on episodes in the lives of two lovers of language, both proficient in several European tongues, who embodied much of their country’s culture at the dawn of the 20th century, also includes several other individuals of note. Among them are Booker T. Washington, Andrew Carnegie, and H.H. Rogers of Standard Oil, whose business acumen Twain greatly admired. Based largely on secondary rather than primary sources, the book may surprise some with the comment that the skeptical Twain and the optimistic Roosevelt privately disliked each other. Both were noted travelers, often touring the lecture circuit. Twain spent nearly all of the 1890s (and some time thereafter) residing in Europe where, after business mishaps, he claimed he could live more cheaply.VerdictRecommended for aficionados of turn-of-the-20th-century American literature and history, especially the general reader....This sweeping, engrossing narrative explores Twain’s and TR’s relationship, and how they became heroes of the “Gilded Age” and icons of American history and culture.(Library Journal)Though America’s most famous satirist and the 26th president seldom came into direct contact, here McFarland (Loves of Harriet Beecher Stowe) posits the duo as dynamic foils, indicative of the social and political growing pains of the country. Differences in background and beliefs abounded: Roosevelt was an expansionist; Twain was a staunch anti-imperialist. The politician “spurn[ed] idleness, to an extent that amazed those who knew him;” the humorist embraced “the gypsy-like leaving behind of responsibilities.” Perhaps most telling of their disparate social roles is their handling of racial issues—while Twain grew vocally outraged at “The United States of Lyncherdom,” Roosevelt fretted about losing the Southern vote. McFarland doesn’t shy away from the complex notions each man had of the other—Twain called Roosevelt “one of the most likeable men that I am acquainted with,” and also “far and away the worst president we have ever had.” In addition to being a compelling duel biography, McFarland makes full use of Twain and Roosevelt’s specific moment in time, using their opinions, vitriol, and praises to explore varying sides of issues that belabored the United States at the turn of the 20th century.(Publishers Weekly)InMark Twain and the Colonel, Philip McFarland tells the story of the rich years of American history between 1890 and 1910 through the fully engaged involvement of two of its most vital participants.(The Birmingham News)No two men captured the zeitgeist of Gilded Age America more than Mark Twain, the cultural icon, and Theodore Roosevelt, the political one, claims the author in this dual biography and narrative history of 1890-1910....McFarland, the author of two novels and five nonfiction works,offers here a captivating investigation of the similarities and differences between Twain and Roosevelt presented against a backdrop of politics, imperialism, commercialism, and racism of these decades....General readers already familiar with Twain and Roosevelt or those who know little about either man will be fascinated by this illuminating, comparative biography/history that displays their significance to this tumultuous era.(ForeWord Reviews)Philip McFarland's book "Mark Twain and the Colonel" is a hybrid biography of two of the most colorful figures of their era and a fascinating look at America at the beginning of the 20th century....Readers of Mr. McFarland's very well-written book, filled with wonderful anecdotes, can judge for themselves who is the better man.(The Washington Times)A magnificent storyteller, Philip McFarland has told the story of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America through the intertwined lives of two of its most memorable and colorful figures: Mark Twain and Theodore Roosevelt. Impeccably researched, beautifully written,Mark Twain and the Colonelwill delight anyone interested in American history, literature, or culture.(Jerome Loving, author of Mark Twain: The Adventures of Samuel L. Clemens)Philip McFarland’s new book, the latest in his distinguished series of American biographies and histories, fuses two vivid stories set around the first decade of the twentieth century. One touches on the astonishing career of President Theodore Roosevelt, an eastern patrician sometimes derided as a “cowboy” and saber-rattler. He speeded the emergence of modern America from a frontier nation to a world power with far-flung interests. The second of McFarland’s stories follows the comparably astonishing career of the democrat and westerner Mark Twain, who came east from the closing western frontier and became famous as author, humorist, and universal sage. More than a century later, these two flamboyant personalities, each a distinctly native production and neither at a loss for words on every issue of their time, continue to occupy a formative place in the American style and imagination.(Justin Kaplan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain: A Biography)Independent historian McFarland (The Brave Bostonians: Hutchinson, Quincy, Franklin, and the Coming of the American Revolution, CH, Oct'98, 36-1163) has pieced together the lives of two 19th- and early-20th-century icons, both of whom contributed greatly but differently to the nation's history. Most are aware of Roosevelt's accomplishments in the Spanish-American War, how he came to the presidency upon the assassination of William McKinley in the fall of 1901, and his subsequent accomplishments during his administration. McFarland describes Roosevelt as a man whose "name [is] shining among the brightest in our presidential firmament." Not all would agree. To the author's credit, however, he adorns Roosevelt with virtues (progressivism) and flaws (racism and imperialism). Clemens, the satirist and novelist, did not take to politicians. He was critical of Roosevelt's quest for empire. As McFarland suggests, Clemens, as a product of pastoral America, found it difficult to accept imperialism and industrialism and what both portended for the nation's future. In short, this book contributes to two different perspectives of the Gilded and Progressive eras. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries.(CHOICE)“McFarland’s story is both personal and political, focusing on the lives and philosophies of both subjects.”(Kirkus Reviews)