Caroline Valetkevitch at Reuters:
Mark Twain is best known for novels such as “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and his witty commentary on late 19th Century and early 20th Century life.
But a new book about the “father of American literature” contends that his greater interest lay in the speculation, invention and money-making schemes that took him and his fortunes on a roller-coaster ride throughout his life.
In “Ignorance, Confidence and Filthy-Rich Friends,” author Peter Krass takes his readers on a tour of these business adventures and concludes that the man of letters was “motivated by a relentless desire to accumulate great wealth.”
According to Krass, Mark Twain was an inveterate gambler and speculator and even set aside work on his future masterpiece, Huckleberry Finn, to devote time to inventing a children’s trivia game that he thought would make money.
More here.