Mark Twain - The Eternal Optimist? Biographical Documentary

 

One of the best loved writers of all time, Mark Twain, had a tough childhood in rural Missouri and had to leave school at the age of 12 after his father died. He worked as a printer and then a Mississippi steamboat pilot before heading out west to try his luck as a silver miner in Nevada, where he found his true vocation as a writer.

His colourful descriptions of a new and evolving nation and the rollicking tales of his travels around the globe are full of his irrepressible humour, but late in life his optimism deserted him when he faced financial ruin and lost his wife and two of his daughters. His writing turned darker, and he developed a strange fascination with teenage girls.

In this expanded biographical documentary about one of America’s most beguiling characters, Prof Yorston explores whether Mark Twain, the eternal optimist, became a bitter and twisted old man as some have suggested, or retained the cheery, light-hearted persona that produced the books that have entertained and enchanted millions for over 150 years.

Did he remain the witty humourist to the end did he feel his life had simply dragged on too long?