This biography is one of the more lengthy picture books I've read all semester. The beginning of the book, the author focuses on Sam Clemens' mischievous behavior and vivid imagination. His childhood friends became characters in his books as he relieved their many adventures. "In many of Mark Twain's books people die by drowning. This was an area of expertise for Sam, who by the age of nine was almost drowning on a regular basis. Expertise was essential to Mark Twain, who always tried to write what he knew -- whether or not it had actually happened." This book was extremely wordy, and I found myself getting lost in it. ( )

This book about the life of Mark Twain gives an illuminating description of his true adventures and the parallel of his stories to the real world that he lived in.Twain was an irreverent, idealistic,funny, pragmatic, non-religious social rebel, who wasn't afraid to poke fun at anything, or state what he really thought about an issue, no matter how his opinion would be received. The book tells us that he had "one of the longest childhoods in history" (37), in the sense that before he became a successful author, he was able to travel around and live by his wits.Among the other things that he endeavored to do, he became a steamship pilot, a prospector, and fought in the Civil War. Always imaginative and full of tall tales, Twain became one of the best storytellers of his era. This book uses the poetic frame of the two comets that bracketed his life to begin and end the story-- a metaphor for the flash of genius and originality he possessed that are so rare.An interesting read, especially for students who have been previously assigned Twain's fiction. ( )