Tag Archives: Mark Twain

we shall have cast our reformation to the winds

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

From Mark Twain’s January 1st, 1863 column in the Territorial Enterprise: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took … Continue reading →

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Starting with Common Sense

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Books That Shaped America is a new 10-part series – a joint original feature production from C-SPAN and the Library of Congress – will trace America’s history by examining masterpieces in literature that have had, and still have today, a major … Continue reading →

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Picturing Maps

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

I have long been intrigued by old school pictoral maps. The exmples above and below are from the  University of Michigan’s Clark Library Maps collection, each shows the United States through a different cultural lens, covering everything from literary giants … Continue reading →

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Please Close The Door

Posted on January 30, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

I always enjoy a good Mark Twain anecdote and this one tickled my fancy. In 1908 burglars surreptiously entered his Hartford mansion and stole a set of silverware from the sideboard. In response, he posted this notice on the front … Continue reading →

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Memorable Opening Lines

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. — F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925) I lost an arm on my last trip home. — Octavia Butler, Kindred (1979) Once … Continue reading →

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Mark Twain Travel Writer

Posted on December 10, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

When we think about the great 19th century American writer Mark Twain, his lauded Mississippi River novels usually come to mind. However, it was the 1869 travel book The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrim’s Progress  which first brought him prominence. … Continue reading →

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Literary Road Trip

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

You might not agree with all of the choices that Mike Nudelman made for this literary map of the U.S. —I certainly didn’t—but it’s a good effort.

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December is the toughest month

Posted on December 2, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

“December is the toughest month of the year. Others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, October, August, and February.” Mark Twain

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Travel Light

Posted on May 27, 2017 by Brian D. Butler
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American Writers Museum Opens

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

On May 16th, the long-awaited American Writers Museum will open in the heart of Chicago’s tourist district. Located at 108 North Michigan Avenue, not far from the world famous Art Institute and Millennium Park, the museum features multimedia installations, permanent … Continue reading →

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