Mark Twain, American Humorist by Tracy Wuster (review)

This highly detailed study of Mark Twain’s public reputation traces his development from western joker to leading American humorist between 1865 and 1882. Wuster sets aside Twain’s status as a major American novelist in order to examine his roots in west coast humor, including his letters, sketches, and essays in newspapers and the way they initially gave him the reputation of a joker or lowly humorist. Considering Mark Twain as constructed by Samuel Clemens, Wuster shows that his publication of the story “Jim Smiley’s Jumping Frog” in the New York Saturday Press boosted his reputation, a claim based on detailed analyses of the reviews. Republishing the jumping frog story (now retitled “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”) as the lead piece in his first book also boosted his reputation, as Wuster’s analyses of the reviews suggest, but the book did not sell well. To increase his respectability, Twain moved east and married the well-to-do Olivia Langdon, who would help edit his works. Wuster shows that the subsequent publication of Innocents Abroad did provide financial success and further advanced Twain’s reputation, making him a quality humorist. However, the book received mixed reviews because some reviewers objected to his irreverence; as a result, to sell the book, Twain and his publisher carefully edited the reviews that they put on the advertisements and the brochures provided to the persons who sold the book by subscription. More importantly, Innocents gained Twain the support of William Dean Howells, editor of the Atlantic Monthly. Wuster explains the history and importance of that magazine as well as the background and aims of its various editors, including Howells, whose emphasis on realism distinguished him. Howells’ support of Twain not only confirmed his status as a quality humorist; it made him the equal of the leading humorists, including Bret Harte and Artemus Ward. That support also enabled Twain to publish additional books, including Roughing It. As a result, he stopped writing newspaper and magazine articles and moved to Harford, Connecticut, where he met several distinguished writers, including Harriet Beecher Stowe. Thanks to Howells’ praise, Twain was able to give lectures in the prestigious lyceum lecture series. Since he had a significant reputation, people came in great numbers to hear him, making the lectures a financial success; however, those who believed that lyceum lectures should be devoted to serious topics, not humor, faulted him or gave him negative reviews. One such critic was Dr. Josiah Holland, a conservative moralist whose importance Wuster explains. Holland was particularly negative, denying that humorists, whom he considered to be buffoons, had any place in these prestigious lectures. Twain responded to such negative reviews with spoofs that he did not publish. Ultimately, Wuster says, the reviews led Twain to withdraw from the lecture circuit and turn entirely to writing.

At this time, Twain took his family to England, where he received, Wuster notes, a very warm reception. Distinguished families invited Twain to dinner, and he joined prestigious social circles. He was also invited to lecture for very enthusiastic audiences. London gave him such a warm reception that he came back for a second year, but British reviewers, especially Sir Leslie Stephen, were critical of his work. The British also rated Brett Harte, a fellow humorist, higher than Twain because the former combined humor and pathos.

Back in Hartford, Twain met Charles Dudley Warner, a fellow humorist, and the two collaborated to produce The Gilded Age, a satire of American political economy. Wuster says it was not a good novel, but it was a forceful critique of contemporary business practices as well as a reflection of the era, which suffered a recession. Twain sent a copy to Howells to get a review in the Atlantic Monthly, but Howells declined to review it because he felt he could not say anything positive about it. Other magazines also declined to review it. Most of the reviews came out in newspapers, not magazines, and Wuster explains them in detail. Twain marketed...