Mark Twain

Happy Birthday, Mark Twain!: Rarest of Rare Collectibles

/ Steve / Leave a comment

On his 70th birthday, Mark Twain gave a speech to friends gathered at Delmonico’s Restaurant. To mark the occasion, he noted that the age of 70 is “the time of life when you arrive at a new and awful dignity; when you may throw aside the decent reserves which have oppressed you for a generation and stand unafraid and unabashed upon your seven-terraced summit and look down and teach—unrebuked.”

On the same occasion, he joked about his very first birthday: “I always think of it with indignation; everything was so crude, unaesthetic, primeval. Nothing like this at all. No proper appreciative preparation made; nothing really ready. Now, for a person born with high and delicate instincts—why, even the cradle wasn’t whitewashed—nothing ready at all. I hadn’t any hair, I hadn’t any teeth, I hadn’t any clothes. I had to go to my first banquet just like that.”

It got better for Mr. Twain. He lived a long and happy-but-cranky life, very productive and much celebrated during his time. Continue reading →

Nine Notable Nom de Plumes

/ Kate / 1 Comment

In honor of George Eliot’s (Mary Anne Evans) birthday today, let’s take a look at nine noteworthy literary pen names. Did you know these authors had “secret identities”?

           

Row 1: George Eliot – Best known for: Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871), Real name: Mary Anne Evans; Mark Twain – Best known for: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), Real name: Samuel Langhorne Clemens; Currer, Ellis & Acton Bell – Best known for (respectively): Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights & Agnes Grey (1847), Real names: Charlotte, Emily & Anne Bronte; George Orwell – Best known for: Animal Farm (1945), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), Real name: Eric Arthur Blair.

Row 2: Dr. Seuss – Best known for: The Cat in the Hat (1957), Green Eggs and Ham (1960), Real name: Theodore Geisel; Voltaire – Best known for: “Plato’s Dream” (1756), Candide (1759), Real name: François-Marie Arouet; O. Henry – Best known for: “The Gift of the Magi” (1906), Real name: William Sydney Porter; Pablo Neruda* – Best known for: Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (1924), Residencia en la tierra (1933), Real name: Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto *Legally adopted his pen name in 1946; Lewis Carroll – Best known for: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), Through the Looking-Glass (1871), Real name: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.

Most of the authors above chose to write under a pseudonym either because they wanted their work to be taken seriously (especially challenging for women before the 20th century), or because they were hiding from a possibly disapproving family member or society. Would you publish under a pen name (or do you already have one)? Let us know in the comments! – Kate

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Kate is Promotions & Direct Mail Coordinator at Half Price Books Corporate.

Celebrity Library Mix + Match Game

/ Meredith / 13 Comments

Home libraries are a beautiful thing. Accredited Online Colleges published this post last week about 20 celebrities with stunning home libraries, so we thought it would be fun to work it into a game to kick off National Literacy Month! Match the library photo below with its celebrity owner. One person who correctly identifies the right owner + library combo will win a prize! Try and guess without peeking!

  

 

A. Rod Stewart B. Jimmy Page C. Mark Twain D. Nigella Lawson E. Oprah Winfrey

F. Woody Allen G. Ralph Lauren H. William Randolph Hearst I. Julianne Moore J. Karl Lagerfeld

K. Keith Richards L. Diane Keaton M. Jane Fonda N. Sting O. Brooke Astor

P. Aaron Spelling Q. Tory Burch R. Michael Jackson S. Agatha Christie T. Jimmy Stewart 

 

Gorgeous aren’t they?! Which one of these celebrity libraries are do you wish you could call your own? Winner will be randomly selected and announced here tomorrow (Friday, September 2). Put your answers in a comment below.

Good luck! — Meredith  

 

UPDATE: Congratulations to Veronica P for being our randomly selected winner who correctly paired the celebrities with their home libraries! Thanks to everyone who participated.