In his book, "Littery Man": Mark Twain and Modern Authorship, Richard S. Lowry describes Samuel Clemens's career as Mark Twain. He traces Twain's literary career from his first books Innocents Abroad and Roughing It on through to his later works, such as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Lowry also focuses on other aspects of Twain's career, such as his relationships with various writers and his concern with "generating money with words" (p 47). Lastly, Lowry touches on the changes that occurred in Twain's writing style as he searched for the proper form and voice to employ in his novels, short stories, and essays. I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to others. It not only gives detailed summaries and analyses of some of Twain's books, but it also discusses how Mark Twain was Samuel Clemens's ultimate character and how this character fits into the history of our country's literature.

In the first chapter, entitled "Littery Man": The Rhetoric of Authorship, Lowry does a thorough job of describing Twain's approach to writing, his place in the literary community, and the role that humor played in Twain's work. By selecting sections of letters that Twain sent to his friend and advisor William Dean Howells, Lowry illustrates the writing process Twain employed. For example, Twain writes of finding the "right way, the sole form" which consists of being able to have the "book write itself" without it shifting into his head "the labor of contriving its situations" (p 17). Because he wrote this way, he wrote sporadically, when the mood hit and the writing was "effortless" (p 17).

Lowry also discusses in this section the distinction Twain made between writing for the "masses" and the "classes". He thought that the " 'masses' were to be entertained and amused, the 'classes' cultivated", and throughout his career he attempted to appeal to both groups (p 22). However, Twain did not feel completely part of the cultivated classes, and his insecurities manifested themselves in a letter to a friend, in which he reveals his feelings of humiliation after his poorly received address at John Greenleaf Whittier's birthday. He writes of his speech as being "in ill taste", and he was disgusted that his burlesque of those "awful deities", Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Oliver Wendell Holmes fell flat in front of a crowd filled with many of the literary giants of the day (p 26). Lowry includes this in order to display the line that Twain walked between rough "Western humor" and elevated, respected literature.

In Chapter two of his book, Lowry focuses on the economic aspect of Twain's career and summarizes both Innocents Abroad and Roughing It. In Twain's mind, "writing was a business" and throughout his career he involved himself in many aspects of that business (p. 47). Lowry describes Twain as a calculating businessman that maneuvered his way in and out of different business positions. For example, Twain the author was also Twain the publisher, Twain the lecturer, and Twain the printer, to name a few of the positions he held. He looked for the most profitable option and usually followed it. For example, after writing his first book he turned down "an offer of $10,000" for the rights to the book, and instead, signed on with Elisha Bliss, a subscription publisher, in hopes of turning a larger profit (p 49).

Lowry uses Twain's first two books as examples of the successes won by subscription publishing. He also gives close readings of the two books and places them in the context of the time they were written. For example, Lowry compares the travel narrative of Innocents Abroad to the travel writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe and her brother Harry Ward Beecher, suggesting that Twain's irreverent approach was not completely an original one. For example, Stowe writes that she had experienced "nothing of that overwhelming" feeling she had expected (p 54). In supplying us with this information, Lowry illustrates how Twain' own writing was influenced by his times and contemporaries.

In discussing these two books, Innocents Abroad and Roughing It, Lowry also mentions Twain's authorial role. In these books, Twain serves as the narrator, the author, and the main character. This persona, according to Lowry, is "fully invested in a comic world of spectacle"; however, this persona will change in the novels to come (p 74).

The last two chapters of the book concentrate on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the role that the author plays in these two novels. In this half of his book, Lowry mainly picks apart the two novels, addressing issues of nostalgia, the purpose of the different characters, such as Injun Joe, and the development of the autobiography.

Lowry takes different aspects of the two stories and analyzes them, trying to show how Twain expresses his main ideas. For example, Lowry dissects the relationships between Tom and Huck and Jim and Huck, and he uses these relationships to show the complex nature of conscience and innocence. He suggests that Twain portrays Tom as an innocent who is being assimilated into society under the "benevolent machinery of home, church, school, and the courts" whereas Huck is struggling with his "deformed conscience" (pp 114-15). Lowry uses these two examples to show the differences between the boys and the novels. Also, Lowry focuses on the role of the author to illustrate differences between the two.

In Tom Sawyer Mark Twain is the narrator and obvious author. His voice is strong throughout the story; however, it disappears under the guise of a semi-literate boy in Huck Finn. In discussing this, Lowry suggests a shift in Twain's writing. For example, whereas in Tom Sawyer, Twain comments on society and makes jokes about it at times, in Huck Finn, he criticizes it with a sharp wit. However, it does not seem that Twain is making these criticisms, but rather a somewhat educated little boy. Lowry propounds this view by calling Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Huck Finn's Autobiography (p 123). With this idea of autobiography in mind, Lowry discusses Benjamin Franklin's autobiography and compares Franklin and his writing to Twain and his works, focusing on Huck Finn. Like Franklin, Huck Finn and Mark Twain were self made men and through their writings we see the triumphs of their lives.

This book, "Litery Man": Mark Twain and Modern Authorship focuses on the works and career of Mark Twain. For an idea of who Twain the writer was, I would recommend this book; however, Lowry does not include much biographical information and does not spend much time on books other than Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yet, by analyzing these of Twain's work, Lowry manages to give the reader a sense of who Mark Twain was and who he wanted to be. We are given a portrait of a man driven to succeed in the literary world, a portrait of man who wanted to both please and critique American society. Not only does Lowry give us summaries and close readings of some of Twain's fiction, he also gives insight into the man's life, his relationships with his contemporaries and his struggle to become a dominant figure in American literature.