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Article: Meet Mark Twain: Oxford companion fleshes out Samuel Langhorne Clemens, both of them.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- February 26, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: John Mark Eberhart
Call them the two strains of Twain.
One is the dark-mustachioed young author of sunny comedies such as "Roughing It" and boyhood tales like "Tom Sawyer."
The other is the white-haired curmudgeon who wrote searing attacks on American imperialism, on the expansionist administration of William McKinley and what Twain saw as self-righteous American meddling in the affairs of other countries. Taking a stand uncannily similar to one side of today's rancorous political debate, Twain expressed his fear that America was in danger of becoming a bully.
He began referring to humankind as "the damned human race" and wrote ...