Customer Reviews

Grant and Twain: The Story of an American Friendship

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book explores the personal and business relationship between US Grant and Mark Twain, and attempts to advance the thesis that these two men, who were such towering figures of the mid to late 19th century, were profoundly influenced by each other. As a narrative this book succeeds--especially in Perry's description of the dying Grant. His portrait of the ex-president and savior of the Union is touching, and definitely makes the book worth reading on that merit alone. Perry's recounting of the relationship Twain and Grant shared is also interesting, demonstrated mainly from Twain's point of view.

The thesis which is central to this book, unfortunately, was not confirmed for me in Perry's argument. The central argument seems to be that Twain was a deciding factor in Grant's resolution to write his memoirs, and that somehow it may not have happened had Twain not intervened. Perry points out that Twain brought the subject up to Grant several years before the project was actually started, but that alone was not enough to convince me. In fact, Grant was writing a series of articles for the Century magazine, and was already in process of making a deal for the book. Twain's publishing company more or less stole the deal away from Century. And while Twain was able to secure a much better financial compensation plan for Grant than he otherwise would have gotten, this, too, can hardly be attributed purely to the friendship the two shared. The memoirs made both men a lot of money.

There is little doubt that Twain revered Grant and that Grant, in turn, appreciated and was fond of Twain. I just couldn't see, however, the link Perry seemed to want to build between Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Grant's memoirs, and for me that left the premise of the book flawed. Certain elements of the argument also break down under closer scrutiny, for example Perry's claim that the 'GG' appearing at the beginning of Huck Finn stands for 'General Grant,' and that the book was somehow dedicated to his friend.

Perry also attempts to draw parallels between Huck and Grant, which to me seem very far-fetched. He claims that "Grant's journey [South down the Mississippi after he captured Vicksburg] was intended to free the slaves" and that "capturing Vicksburg, Grant had transformed the war for the Union into a war to free the slaves." This is much more than I can swallow. The Emancipation Proclamation had gone into effect 7 months before this event, and had been declared almost a year before. If there was a battle that changed the course of the war it was Antietam, not Vicksburg.

In short, Huck Finn was not General Grant, nor vice-versa. I just can't wrap my mind around that one, and that makes the whole of Perry's argument seem fairly weak. That having been said, the book is very well written, the narrative is excellent, and only the historical analysis/interpretation seems to break down under scrutiny. I bought this book before reading it (something I don't often do), but I can honestly say I don't regret it. Though I'm not convinced by Perry's argument, this book was worth reading.

My father was a high school history teacher. He enjoyed history and did his best to help others love it too. He had a remarkable sense of humor and often added questions to his quizzes like "What color what Washington's White Horse?" and "Who was buried in Grant's Tomb?" Surprisingly some of the students actually managed to get the questions wrong! One in particular took a great deal of time realizing that the questions answered themselves. One day my father was trying to clarify a point in history for this particular student, who just couldn't get what was patently obvious. Finally my Dad said, "Camella, who's buried in Grant's Tomb?" To which she replied, "Grant! You told me and I remembered!"

Unfortunately for many people, history has become a soulless list of names, dates and places to be memorized for exams and then promptly forgotten. Sadly these days there are those who couldn't even say who Grant was, and some who might know he was a Civil War general and little else, which is a sad state of affairs. But history is more than just names, dates and places, it's people and their lives, the events they helped shape and which helped shape them.

For this reason I'm always glad to see a book that brings this fact to the foreground. Grant and Twain is an unlikely title for a book; it's an unlikely combo. If I'd been asked if I thought the two men had had anything at all in common, let alone if they knew one another, I'd have been hard put to actually answer the question. Mark Perry has given life to both men as people in a way that I would never have expected. In doing so he has brought to life the entire Civil War and post-Civil War Periods and even the entire 19th century to life for me.

Grant and Twain is actually a book about the writing of Ulysses S. Grant's autobiography and war memoirs and how close it came to not happening. It is also a story about the real Grant--and incidentally about the real Mark Twain--which is a story not often appreciated. While other authors have written biographies of Grant, probably no other author has managed to come up with a formula that actually captures the courage, dignity, and selflessness of one of the country's most important figures.

For most of us, the Civil War is Lincoln and especially Lincoln's assassination. The war itself is overwhelmingly beshot with names, dates and places, which tends to put off most readers, but Lincoln, his burden as the war years president, and his tragic end are a human story that people can grasp. If anyone remembers Grant's part in the story it's generally as "Lincoln's" general who finally won the war and put an end to the horrendous slaughter on both sides of the conflict. He has become a footnote to the Lincoln story. Mr. Perry's book corrects that admirably by presenting the story of Grant the man.

While Perry's account of Grant is definitely also Grant the successful military man, it is also Grant the average guy who had what it took when it was needed. He is also a man who ran for president, who unwisely encouraged friends to invest with the Bernie Maddoff of his day, but who thereafter made every effort to the point of destitution to pay back those who had been injured. He was a man who died slowly and miserably of cancer of the throat but forced himself to work on the memoirs that would help provide for his family after his death, and he did all of this with stoic calm. He often did it while expressing great concern over other individual's feelings and well-being.

The Twain of Perry's book is a Twain that most people probably do not know. Most of us are used to thinking of him as the witty old man in the white suit who wrote childhood favorites like Huckelberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. But Twain, too, is a much more three dimensional figure in Perry's adept hand. He too has rocky beginnings and his disappointments. It is he who encouraged Grant to write his memoir and, in fact, published it for him. As the author makes clear, he was instrumental in getting the book into the readerss hands and ultimately in giving Grant something meaningful to do, and something for which to struggle with death to complete.

Combining the biographies of both men was an ingenious way of making sense of both lives and of bringing the character of a nation approaching the 20th century to vivid reality for the reader. It also portrays a nation in the progress of healing itself after a great rift. Time moves on inexorably and with that progress friends become enemies and enemies friends and the world moves on. Civil War generals from both sides were pall bearers and honor guards at Grant's funeral. To the people of his day, Grant's passing was the passing of an era, the era of the Gilded Age. In Perry's hands this is not just boring names, dates and places.

Almost a biography of a century, encapsulating a nation in transition.

Despite the author's best efforts, I thought the premise of the book -- that Grant and Twain's friendship was of great importance in both men's lives -- was not well proven in the book. However, the intimate portrayal of Grant in this short book was very interesting to me, and earned the book 4 stars in my mind.

I've come to enjoy history when it's well-written, and when it provides surprises, and insights that stand the test of time. This is it.

The most I "knew" about Grant was his role as General, that he WAS president, and that he drank. The most I "knew" about Twain was as a famous author, and that he launched witticisms (my favorite: "If I had more time, I'd write you a shorter letter."). Who knew the two were so connected, let alone that it was perfectly logical that they were?

I appreciate and respect Grant a lot more. When he assumed the role of Presidency, he resigned from his position in the Army to allow others to rise within the ranks and enhance their own careers. It also meant that he forfeited his rights to a pension (there was no pension for Presidents at the time). His wife became good friends w Jefferson Davis' widow. Financial "guru" used Grant's name in a firm, then ran it into the ground & absconded with the money (some things never change!). Two pallbearers at his funeral were from senior Confederate ranks. Twain was quite the character too. His neighbor was Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Biographies can be nice enough, but tedious. They focus too much on one person, and are a chronological, lineal re-telling of life and activities. I really enjoy when biographies present the context of the era, connections with other known people, and convey a "you are there" sensibility. This story offers a glimpse at the state of health care back in the day (yikes!). This book had the bonus of intertwining two characters in our history who are known, but about whom not much is known. Kudos on research, details, and a very approachable/ readable style.

This book is a wonderful introduction to both Grant and Twain and their works. The story clarifies the not intimate - but respectful - relationship of these two men and shows how even though their interactions were subtle, they exerted great positive influence on one another's life and place in history.

An interesting little book about an interesting relationship. Grant, the tiny, hard-bitten Union general and Twain, the humorous Confederate deserter who ensured the former president did not die in penury. Twain (Samuel Clemens) published Grant's memoirs and paid record royalties to the general's family after he passes away from throat cancer.

The book tends to be more of a mini-biography of the last years of Grant's life and his dreadful suffering with the throat cancer that killed him. Grant's persona takes up much more of the book than Clemens who although incredibly witty and helpful to many, did not suffer fools gladly and rarely forgot a slight. The world does owe Clemens a debt of gratitude for publishing the memoirs because they are truly interesting and very well written.

Author Perry highlights some really tenuous connections between Grant and Mark Twain's characters e.g. the remarkable similarities between Huckleberry Finn's descent of the Mississippi to free the slave Jim and Grant's descent of the same river to free Vicksburg. Indeed his suggestion that Huck Finn might be an alter ego for Grant borders on the -well, not very sensible.

The abiding memories from the book are the horrible painful death that throat cancer brought to Grant and how so many of Grant's former West Point friends became Confederate enemies and the wonderful gesture of Grant's wife who requested two of those Confederate generals to be pall bearers. It is nuggets like that which make this such an enjoyable read.

It is well written with excellent source notes and bibliography.