Mark Twain

Roughing It Mark Twain

Roughing It by Mark Twain

Mark Twain claimed that his literary hybrid Roughing It was nothing more than a simple personal narrative, with no intention of presenting that narrative as history or philosophy. Well, Mark Twain has said a lot of things, some of which are untrustworthy. In fact, Roughing It was more than just a personal memoir: it helped situate the American Frontier mythology in the minds of those who would never come close to picking up an occasional book.

Roughing It is actually two stories combined. The first traces the path Twain took to the west to make his fortune. Along the way, of course, there have been many business setbacks and failures. The second half of the book, however, could not be possible, unless you finally found your fortune because the latter part of the book essentially asks the question that is hardly ever asked of someone looking to make a fortune: that are you going to do? with that when you do it?

The answer really lies in the volume one holds when playing the version of Twain. What he did was go from Samuel Clemens to Mark Twain, and the rest of his life was spent marketing this product. Part of that marketing was Roughing It which, as a personal narrative, offers a unique perspective on the West's transformation from a rugged border to a land of myths. Who better to give a faithfully ironic account of Brigham Young's determination to build a Mormon empire? Besides, what other writer could possibly add something to the stereotypical image of prospecting for gold in Nevada and California. It takes a genius of Twain's caliber to see beyond the conventional representation of surface effects.

The result is that Roughing It is also a transcendent work. Like the journey that led Clemens to Twain, Roughing It takes readers to places he thought were completely covered by less important writers before finally discovering Twain's lesser-loved masterpiece.