“Accessible . . . Engaging . . . May well be our fullest account to date of what Bleikasten calls Faulkner’s ‘energy for life’ and ‘will to write.’” —Theresa Towner, author of The Cambridge Introduction to William Faulkner
 
Writing to American poet Malcolm Cowley in 1949, William Faulkner expressed his wish to be known only through his books—but...

He was Sam Clemens, steamboat pilot, before he was Mark Twain, famous author. His better-known name originated with the lingo of navigation, and much of his writing was informed by his shipboard adventures on one of the world's great rivers. In this classic of American literature, Twain offers lively recollections ranging from his salad days as a novice pilot to views from the passenger deck in the twilight of the river culture's heyday. Under the...