Mark Twain and the Spiritual Crisis of His Age (Amer Lit Realism & Naturalism)

354 Pages·2007·1.67 MB·English

by  Harold K. Bush

Mark Twain and the Spiritual Crisis of His Age
Studies in American Literary Realism and Naturalism
series editor
Gary Scharnhorst
editorial board
Louis J. Budd
Donna Campbell
John Crowley
Robert E. Fleming
Alan Gribben
Eric Haralson
Denise D. Knight
Joseph McElrath
George Monteiro
Brenda Murphy
James Nagel
Alice Hall Petry
Donald Pizer
Tom Quirk
Jeanne Campbell Reesman
Ken Roemer
Mark Twain
and the
Spiritual Crisis
of His Age
Harold K. Bush Jr.
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2007
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeface: Minion
∞
The paper on which this book is printed
meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard
for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48–1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bush, Harold K. (Harold Karl), 1956–
Mark Twain and the spiritual crisis of his age / Harold K. Bush, Jr.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-1538-2 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8173-1538-1 (alk. paper)
1. Twain, Mark, 1835–1910—Religion. 2. Christianity and literature—United
States—History—19th century. I. Title. II. Series.
PS1342.R4B87 2006
818′.409—dc22
2006013112
This book is dedicated to Daniel Harrison Mitsunobu Bush
1993–99
“We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about
those who are asleep.”
I Thessalonians 4:13

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Introduction 1
1. Mark Twain’s Roots: Hannibal, the River, and the West 20
2. Mark Twain’s Wife: The Moral Ethos of the Victorian Home 55
3. Mark Twain’s Pastor: Joe Twichell and Social Christianity 83
4. Mark Twain’s Liberal Faith: The Social Gospel on Asylum Hill 126
5. Mark Twain’s Civil War: Civil Religion and the Lost Cause 161
6. Mark Twain’s American Adam: Humor as Hope and Apocalypse 205
7. Mark Twain’s Grief: The Final Years 233
Acknowledgments 285
Notes 289
Bibliography 311
Index 333

Illustrations
1. Jane Lampton Clemens at 85 22
2. Olivia Langdon 58
3. Mark Twain and family 65
4. Joseph Twichell, 1875 84
5. Mark Twain playing piano 145
6. Twain with John Lewis 154
7. Joe Twichell in Civil War of¤cer’s uniform 167
8. Abraham Lincoln being raptured 180
9. Susy Clemens, 1892 235
10. Mark Twain, Theresa Fedorowna Ries, and bust of Twain 275