Mark Twain - Preacher, Prophet, and Social Philosopher

Smith offers an engaging biography of one of the world's most inspiring, humorous, and provocative authors. He analyzes Mark Twain's constantly changing views of Christianity, humanity, the afterlife, and other theological topics, thereby providing a window into the spiritual crisis of the Gilded Age.

List of contents

• Abbreviations of Frequently Cited Persons and Works


• 1: Introduction


• 2: 1835-1860: Life Along and On the Mississippi


• 3: The 1860s: Journalism, a Pilgrimage, and Courtship


• 4: The 1870s: Hartford as a Religious Haven


• 5: The 1880s: In Hartford as In Heaven


• 6: The 1890s: A Troubled Time


• 7: The 1900s: Trying to Make Sense of Life


• 8: Conclusion


• Selected Bibliography

About the author

Gary Scott Smith taught at Grove City College from 1978 to 2017 where he chaired the History Department and coordinated the Humanities Core. He received Grove City's inaugural Professor of the Year award in 2000, and the next year he was named Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. He is the author or editor of seventeen books.

Summary

Smith offers an engaging biography of one of the world's most inspiring, humorous, and provocative authors. He analyzes Mark Twain's constantly changing views of Christianity, humanity, the afterlife, and other theological topics, thereby providing a window into the spiritual crisis of the Gilded Age.

Additional text

Smith's Mark Twain is well researched and written, and offers insightful analysis of Twain's views of religion throughout his personal life and illustrious career. Smith's book is rich with anecdotes about, and statements by, Mark Twain that often amuse, impress, and, at times, astonish. It is recommended for university, college, and public libraries.

Product details

• Authors: Gary Scott Smith, Gary Scott (Grove City College) Smith, Smith Gary Scott
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 22.07.2021
• EAN: 9780192894922
• ISBN: 978-0-19-289492-2
• No. of pages: 272
• Series: Spiritual Lives
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary Figures, Biography: literary, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Religious, RELIGION / Spirituality, RELIGION / Christianity / General, Christianity, Biography: religious & spiritual, Christian spirituality & religious experience, Spirituality and religious experience, Biography: religious and spiritual, Biography: writers