Alternating pages of text with captioned collages of mostly period photos, MacLeod traces the stellar public career and unhappy private life of the “first American celebrity.” Some of the pictures, such as an image of a peach pie or, toward the end, a diverse group of modern children, come off as filler. And though the author offers succinct appreciations of Twain’s literary significance and innovations, plus such personal tidbits as his abiding affection for house cats, her narrative reads like an encyclopedia entry—seldom even livened by one of the quips for which he was famous. As the basic biographical information is readily available elsewhere, consider this at best as a supplementary choice for a first introduction to the writer, behind the likes of Stewart Ross’s Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn, illustrated by Ronald Himler (1999), or Kathryn Lasky’s A Brilliant Streak, illustrated by Barry Moser (1998). (Biography. 10-12)
