GRANT AND TWAIN(ISBN=) 英文原版

In the spring of 1884 Ulysses S. Grant heeded the advice of Mark
Twain and finally agreed to write his memoirs. Little did Grant or
Twain realize that this seemingly straightforward decision would
profoundly alter not only both their lives but the course of
American literature. Over the next fifteen months, as the two men
became close friends and intimate collaborators, Grant raced
against the spread of cancer to compose a triumphant account of his
life and times—while Twain struggled to complete and publish his
greatest novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.In
this deeply moving and meticulously researched book, veteran writer
Mark Perry reconstructs the heady months when Grant and Twain
inspired and cajoled each other to create two quintessentially
American masterpieces.

In a bold and colorful narrative, Perry recounts the early careers
of these two giants, traces their quest for fame and elusive
fortunes, and then follows the series of events that brought them
together as friends. The reason Grant let Twain talk him into
writing his memoirs was simple: He was bankrupt and needed the
money. Twain promised Grant princely returns in exchange for the
right to edit and publish the book—and though the writer’s own
finances were tottering, he kept his word to the general and his
family.

Mortally ill and battling debts, magazine editors, and a constant
crush of reporters, Grant fought bravely to get the story of his
life and his Civil War victories down on paper. Twain, meanwhile,
staked all his hopes, both financial and literary, on the tale of a
ragged boy and a runaway slave that he had been unable to finish
for decades. As Perry delves into the story of the men’s deepening
friendship and mutual influence, he arrives at the startling
discovery of the true model for the character of Huckleberry
Finn.

With a cast of fascinating characters, including General William T.
Sherman, William Dean Howells, William Henry Vanderbilt, and
Abraham Lincoln, Perry’s narrative takes in the whole sweep of a
glittering, unscrupulous age. A story of friendship and history,
inspiration and desperation, genius and ruin, Grant and
Twain captures a pivotal moment in the lives of two towering
Americans and the age they epitomized.
From the Hardcover edition.

MARK PERRY, writer, reporter, and foreign
policy analyst, has published articles in dozens of magazines and
newspapers, including The Nation, The Washington
Post, The Christian Science Monitor, the Los Angeles
Times, and New York Newsday. His critically acclaimed
books include Four Stars: The Inside Story of the
Forty-Year Battle Between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and America’s
Civilian Leaders; Eclipse: The Last Days of the CIA; Fire in Zion:
The Israeli-Palestinian Search for Peace; and Lift Up Thy
Voice: The Grimke Family’s Journey from Slaveholders to Civil
Rights Leaders. Perry lives in Arlington,
Virginia.
From the Hardcover edition.

ACKNOWLEDGM ENTS
 PROLOGU E: “He Fights”
GRANT AND TWAIN: A CHRONOLOGY
0NE: ‘ik Man with Fire”
TWO: ‘i Wounded Lion”
THREE: “The Small Room at the Head
oi the Stairs”
FOU R: “Turn Him Loose!”
FiVE: “They Have Expelled Huck”
six: “He Was Just a Man”
s EVE N: “The Composition Is Entirely My Own”
EiGHT: “The Me in Me”
 Em LOGU E: “Many a Deep Remorse”
A NOTE ON SOURCES
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
A READER’S GUIDE