The+Trouble+Begins+at+Eight

 **The Trouble Begins at Eight: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West by Sid Fleischmann** When Mark Twain first started giving speeches, the poster advertising them read, “Doors open at 7. The trouble begins at 8.” This is the spirit in which Fleischman writes about Twain, talking about him as an author, of course, but also as steamboat pilot, a journalist, a prospector, and a lecturer—in other words, as an adventurer who didn’t mind a little trouble. In keeping with this theme, Fleischman doesn’t dwell on Twain’s best-known books, featuring Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, but spends most of his time on Twain’s earlier years, showing how young Samuel Clemens’ myriad adventures became the building blocks for his stories. With a Twainian lilt to the prose, the book mingles deftly shaped research with snippets from Twain’s writings. One of Fleischman’s goals is to show Twain’s noted wit; today’s kids, however, may not find some of Twain’s writing particularly amusing, its humor disappearing in the mists of time. What will probably delight readers more are Twain’s amazing exploits aboard stagecoaches and steamboats, making and losing fortunes, and trying to find his place in the world.

[| Book Review/Website]