‘Who is Mark Twain?’ reviewed: 24 essays in hardback and a DRM-free e-book—priced together at $19.99
There has been a decided uptick in interest in Mark Twain recently. All to the good: the great satirist deserves as large an audience as he get in this and any other time. Now HarperStudio is getting in the game with its release of Who is Mark Twain?, a collection of 24 previously unpublished essays by him. And if you buy the hardcover, you also receive the DRM-free e-book.
While I can’t see why anyone would buy both a hardcover edition and an e-book, if HarperStudio is giving it away and it’s DRM-free in the bargain, I don’t see how you can lose. And not just any old e-book. This one features possibly America’s greatest satirist wondering if “Jane Austen’s goal is to ‘make the reader detest her people up to the middle of the book and like them in the rest of the chapters?’” And:
Twain plasters the city with ads to promote his talk at the Cooper Union (he is terrified no one will attend). Later that day, Twain encounters two men gazing at one of his ads. One man says to the other: “Who is Mark Twain?” The other responds: “God Knows—I Don’t.”
Be sure not to miss John Lithgow reading a selection wherein it is revealed how Twain determined which manuscripts to publish, and which to burn.
I’ve read pretty much everything Twain has written up to this point, and as a writer, I’ve taken his 19 Rules of Literary Art much to heart. I don’t usually buy hard covers, but this one comes in at a reasonable $19.99 and with the e-book to boot, I think I’ll make an exception. Maybe I can give the hardcover away …
One thing I’m very curious about: All Twain’s writings have long since passed into the public domain. So can Harper Studio hold a copyright to these 24 essays? They’re handpicked by Robert Hirst, General Editor of The Mark Twain Project at UC Berkeley, so possibly they’ve been edited. If so, does that mean they can be copyrighted?
April 25th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Mark Twain died in 1910. All of his works published before he died are now in the public domain. Unpublished writings are treated differently in some countries, but not in the USA, as I found when checking. All Mark Twain’s works are in the public domain in the USA. Minor edits to the works don’t change the copyright status.
I don’t really see how the Mark Twain Foundation can claim copyright in the text of the essays themselves. They seem to be doing so by claiming copyright in the “Transcription, reconstruction and emendation” of the texts. This seems dubious to me. But IANAL.
Perhaps it’s a reflex to claim copyright, in the hopes that no-one will think to challenge it.
April 25th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Also available thru DailyLit, http://www.dailylit.com/books/who-is-mark-twain, in 55 free installments.
April 25th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
The irony is that Mark Twain was, in his lifetime, one of the strongest advocates for perpetual, never-ending copyright. He really hated the idea that someday his works would belong to everyone.
Didn’t stop him from writing more of them, though.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Paul, thanks for looking into it. I wonder if this copyright would stand up to a challenge?
Deanna - excellent - I didn’t know Daily Lit was doing this. Consider me subscribed.
Chris, yes, Twain, bitterly disappointed that he was, went a little crazy with that copyright stuff towards the end of his life. It’s hard to know, though, how serious he was about it. Personally, I’m all for giving the great man the benefit of the doubt.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Paul, thanks for looking into it. I wonder if this copyright would stand up to a challenge?
Deanna - excellent - I didn’t know Daily Lit was doing this. Consider me subscribed.
Chris, yes, Twain, bitterly disappointed idealist that he was, went a little crazy with that copyright stuff towards the end of his life. It’s hard to know, though, how serious he was about it. Personally, I’m all for giving the great man the benefit of the doubt.
April 26th, 2009 at 12:38 am
My dear Mr. Twain,
The answer to your question is “yes.” It is called “plotting.” Perhaps you have heard of it?
Yours &c.,
J. Austen
(gotta keep up the Twain/Austen trash talk)
April 26th, 2009 at 9:19 am
I can. Many people keep books as collectors items. Does anybody really read over and over again all the books they keep in their library? I have books I have never read but intend to read. I have pretty books that are good for browsing but probably not worth reading. I also have books that I have read only once or less than once. I also have books that I have read parts or even all of many times.
Bookshelves are comforting and a source of pride, and often a statement of personality to guests. Just because one might enjoy reading a handsomely leather bound work of art at home does not mean one should be excluded from continuing to enjoy the same work while on the move. In fact, I have been thinking for quite some time that digital editions of all books should be free with the purchase of their paper brethren.
Also, even for people who choose P over E, having the E version makes searching the book and discussing the book more convenient. It is much more enlightening during an Instant Messanger conversation to just cut and paste the text one is discussing.
April 26th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
An interesting story about Clemmens that is publishing related. For many years, he invested heavily in the development of a typesetting machine that never quite worked. He was approached by the Linotype company (remember them?) who offered to buy out his interest. Clemmens sent them packing, believing that they were trying to cheat him. Not long after, the company he was backing failed, which bankrupted Clemmens.
This dire financial condition is what prompted his world lecture tour, to pay off his debts.
April 26th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I agree with LuYu that having an ebook version of a text is very valuable for searching and quoting. Maintaining a searchable digital repository with all the text one has perused would provide a great assistance to memory. My own memories are best described but this quote from Twain:
April 27th, 2009 at 8:25 am
LuYu, I do reread some books in my own library, the ones that have stood the test of (my) time. And of course it is a bonus to have an e-book as well as a p-book. It’d be great if more publishers did this. Still, I don’t think I’d pay more to have copies of both. One or the other will do. In this case, the e-book was free.
Joseph, thanks for the anecdote. Twain seems to supply an endless amount of them …
Garson, this is definitely one of the main advantages of e-books. And Twain, naturally, manages to hit the mark a good century ahead of his time.
April 27th, 2009 at 8:29 am
I want to point all of you readers and writers over to http://twainia.com, where you can find a lot more on Twain: not only is there a free download of John Lithgow reading the entire book (today is the last day to grab it!), there is also a writing contest to see who is the next Mark Twain!