Ron Chernow is the prizewinning author of seven previous books and the recipient of the 2015 National Humanities Medal. His first book, The House of Morgan, won the National Book Award, Washington: A Life won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, and Alexander Hamilton--the inspiration for the Broadway musical--won the George Washington Book Prize. He has twice been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and is one of only three living biographers to have won the Gold Medal for Biography of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. A past president of PEN America, Chernow has been the recipient of nine honorary doctorates.

"Chernow's voluminous biography presents Twain with all his complications and flaws -- disastrous financial decisions, his evolving views on race -- in this account both of the man and of a nation torn apart by war and stitched painfully back together, all of it brightened by Twain's signature humor and wisdom." --New York Times Book Review

"Before Chernow became the biographer of the American heroes hiding in our wallet--Ulysses S. Grant, George Washington, and most famously Alexander Hamilton--he was a chronicler of Morgans, Warburgs and Rockefellers . . . Enlightening and entertaining . . . Here, after covering Twain's greatness, he has boldly written a book about the limitations of our body and mind, the traps of our reputation, the death of those we love and the embarrassing yearning for youth." --Bloomberg

"Chernow has produced a literary biography of the first rank . . . Chernow writes expressively but clearly . . . The heartiest compliment I can pay to Chernow is that at no point did I wish, as I first suspected I might, that I was reading a book by Twain instead of one about him." --The American Conservative

"Mark Twain by Ron Chernow is a dominating biography of an American icon . . . Ron Chernow's Sam Clemens is human, all too human, and this is, to some degree, a measure of this biography's excellence. Chernow's Twain seems so real in his flaws that the caveat against meeting your heroes holds. This does nothing to undermine the brilliance of the artist . . . Ron Chernow, in this excellent and very human biography, challenges readers to meet an American original as he has emerged from deep research and lucid exposition." --Redding Sentinel

"[A] charming, sympathetic yet judicious biography . . . Chernow's gift for fluency, rivalling Twain's, unstrenuously carries you along, parading before us the many lives of Mark Twain . . . Indeed, this is a model biography, one of the finest of recent years, giving equal billing to interiority and the social scene." --The Times (UK)

"Bestseller Chernow (Grant) again proves himself among his generation's finest biographers with this magisterial account of the life of Mark Twain . . . Chernow's razor-sharp portrait offers nuanced explorations of Twain's many contradictions . . . Amply justifying the considerable page count, this stands as the new definitive biography of the revered author." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Remarkable . . . Chernow is an exceptional portraitist, adding depth and shadow to bring his subject fully to life. The impeccable research blends seamlessly into a narrative that examines Twain in all his guises: devoted family man, writer, publisher, entrepreneur, and inventor. Like his subject, Chernow has a keen ear for the perfect quote, insult, and witty rejoinder. This monumental achievement will stand as the definitive life of Mark Twain." --Booklist (starred review)

"Chernow once again demonstrates his impeccably deep research, highlighting Twain's better qualities without ignoring the issues he grappled with in his life . . . This belongs in both public and academic libraries and will open a new discussion of Twain's cultural standing, as Chernow's previous biographies have also accomplished." --Library Journal (starred review)

"Essential reading for any Twain buff and student of American literature." --Kirkus (starred review)

"Chernow has brought us as close to Twain as we are likely to get, and this nuanced portrait of an often conflicted man is a triumph." --BookPage

Publisher: Penguin Press

Pub date: 2025-05-13

Length: 1200 pages