Mark Twain

The Complete Short Stories Mark Twain Introduction by Adam Gopnik Everyman's Library: 716 pp., $28 Mark Twain was on the lecture circuit for over three decades. He would take the stage feigning bemusement at discovering his audience and stand silently smoking one of the 30 cigars he would enjoy that day. He was a solitary performer working in dusty, drafty, dimly lit halls, sans audio equipment, Twain knew every trick to keep his audiences engaged. His delivery, emotion, intelligence and humor would bring crowds to their feet.

Actor Val Kilmer brings the famous American writer Mark Twain to life via his play "Citizen Twain. " In it Kilmer becomes unrecognizable as he waxes poetic and philosophical on subjects including love, death, racism, religion and more. Valley Performing Arts Center, 18111 Nordhoff St., L.A. 8 p.m. Sat. Prices vary. (818) 677-8800; http://www.valleyperformingartscenter.org.

The Complete Short Stories Mark Twain Introduction by Adam Gopnik Everyman's Library: 716 pp., $28 Mark Twain was on the lecture circuit for over three decades. He would take the stage feigning bemusement at discovering his audience and stand silently smoking one of the 30 cigars he would enjoy that day. He was a solitary performer working in dusty, drafty, dimly lit halls, sans audio equipment, Twain knew every trick to keep his audiences engaged. His delivery, emotion, intelligence and humor would bring crowds to their feet.

Although it seems like Hal Holbrook has owned the role of Mark Twain for decades, another actor has staked a theatrical claim to the white-haired novelist and wit. Val Kilmer has been working on "Citizen Twain," a solo play in which he plays the writer, for the past several years and presented a workshop version at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery last year. Kilmer -- who has starred in "Top Gun," "The Doors," "Heat" and "Batman Forever" -- will take his Twain play on the road for a short tour starting in April.

When he died 99 years ago this week, Mark Twain was this country's most beloved writer, yet his status as both an author and protean example of the now-familiar pop cultural celebrity seems to grow with each passing decade. "Who Is Mark Twain?" -- a collection of 24 previously uncollected stories and essays drawn mostly from the vast archive of the author's papers and correspondence at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library -- is an entertaining reminder of why that's so.

Re “ Congress agrees, in Twain we trust ,” Nov. 17 I'm glad that with all the commotion about the “fiscal cliff,” our lawmakers were able to spend the time on the issuance of commemorative coins to honor Mark Twain. We can't expect our highly compensated legislators to spend all of their time dealing with crucial issues. They need also to deal with frivolous matters such as commemorative coins. There is always plenty of time to address jobs legislation, infrastructure improvement and an oil rig explosion.

Almost 99 years after his death on April 21, 1910, Mark Twain will publish a new short story next week in the pages of the quarterly mystery magazine the Strand. Discovered in Twain's archive -- reportedly the largest collection of personal papers left behind by a 19th century American author -- the never-before-published "The Undertaker's Tale" is a short tale-within-a-tale about a wretched homeless boy who is taken in by a kindly undertaker's family. According to Strand editor Andrew F.

Although it seems like Hal Holbrook has owned the role of Mark Twain for decades, another actor has staked a theatrical claim to the white-haired novelist and wit. Val Kilmer has been working on "Citizen Twain," a solo play in which he plays the writer, for the past several years and presented a workshop version at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery last year. Kilmer -- who has starred in "Top Gun," "The Doors," "Heat" and "Batman Forever" -- will take his Twain play on the road for a short tour starting in April.

WASHINGTON -- On Jan. 1, 2016, the Treasury Department will begin issuing commemorative coins to celebrate Mark Twain's contribution to American literary history, thanks to a bill approved by the House on Thursday evening. Mark Twain was the pen name used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, most famous for writing "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and other American classics. During 2016, as many as 100,000 gold $5 coins will be issued with a surcharge of $35, while as many as  350,000 silver $1 coins will be issued with a surcharge of $10. Twain remains one of the best-known and widest-read authors in the world, with more than 6,500 editions of his books translated into 75 languages.

Twain not a racist Re "De-romanticizing a Twain classic," Feb. 18 Mark Twain a racist? Oh, bosh! When we're talking about Twain, we're speaking of someone born well before the Civil War, in a small town, from a slave-holding state. That his humanity -- hmmm, like Lincoln's -- could overcome the fundamental bigotry of his time and place, with all of its attendant horrors, is extraordinary. Does that make him a 21st century man? No -- and we ought not hold him to the so-called niceties of our own social and political fabric.

It's not long, Mark Twain's “Advice to Little Girls,” a bit of satire written in 1865 and newly reissued as a picture book (Enchanted Lion: 20 pp., $14.95), with a suite of charming, broad-stroke illustrations by Vladimir Radunsky . But it is sharp, a pointed set of admonitions urging girls to think for themselves, which is a message as essential today as it was a century-and-a-half ago. “Good little girls,” Twain begins, “ought not to make mouths at their teachers for every trifling offense.

Hal Holbrook has never been afraid of tackling tough subjects in his TV and film roles. "I sort of like controversial things," said the 87-year-old actor, best known for his celebrated one-man show "Mark Twain Tonight!," which he has been performing since 1954. FOR THE RECORD: Hal Holbrook: In the Dec. 17 Calendar section, the Classic Hollywood column about Hal Holbrook said the actor would be appearing in the coming film "The Promised Land. " The title is "Promised Land.

Re “ Congress agrees, in Twain we trust ,” Nov. 17 I'm glad that with all the commotion about the “fiscal cliff,” our lawmakers were able to spend the time on the issuance of commemorative coins to honor Mark Twain. We can't expect our highly compensated legislators to spend all of their time dealing with crucial issues. They need also to deal with frivolous matters such as commemorative coins. There is always plenty of time to address jobs legislation, infrastructure improvement and an oil rig explosion.

WASHINGTON -- On Jan. 1, 2016, the Treasury Department will begin issuing commemorative coins to celebrate Mark Twain's contribution to American literary history, thanks to a bill approved by the House on Thursday evening. Mark Twain was the pen name used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, most famous for writing "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and other American classics. During 2016, as many as 100,000 gold $5 coins will be issued with a surcharge of $35, while as many as  350,000 silver $1 coins will be issued with a surcharge of $10. Twain remains one of the best-known and widest-read authors in the world, with more than 6,500 editions of his books translated into 75 languages.

Ellen DeGeneres took home the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the top prize in comedy, on Monday night in Washington. "Washington, D.C., is so different from where I grew up," tweeted DeGeneres, a native of New Orleans, ahead of being honored. "When you take your top off, no one throws beads. " The evening - which saw the comic and talk-show host joining the ranks of previous winners including Will Ferrell, Billy Crystal, Tina Fey and Bill Cosby - wasn't all about jokes, however, reported the Washington Post, as DeGeneres was also recognized for one groundbreaking move: coming out as a lesbian on TV in 1997.

It's often said that good writers have to find their voice. If that's so, Samuel Clemens found his in Virginia City, Nev. While working for its local paper in the 1860s, he assumed the name by which he's best known: Mark Twain. Were he alive, Twain would still recognize this town 25 miles southeast of Reno; it hasn't changed much in the last 150 years. The bed Immerse yourself in local lore at the B Street Bed & Breakfast (58 N. B St.; [775] 847-7231, http://www.bstreethouse.com )

Autobiography of Mark Twain Volume 1 Edited by Harriet Elinor Smith, et al. University of California Press: 738 pp., $34.95 Having created a quintessentially American brand of humor and style of literature, Mark Twain (1835-1910) can now add to his myriad accomplishments the title of America's first blogger. No matter that the "Autobiography of Mark Twain," edited by a team led by Harriet Elinor Smith, weighs in at more than 5,000 pages. Volume One, covering the period from 1870 to 1906, and clocking in at a bit over 700 pages (including 200 pages of notes)

"Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain" Hal Holbrook Farrar, Straus and Giroux: 468 pp., $30 Actor Hal Holbrook, still etching craggy characterizations at 86, recollects his difficult beginnings in "Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain. " This is his version of "Act One," Moss Hart's irreplaceable theatrical autobiography tracing his climb from a hardscrabble boyhood in the Bronx to his first intoxicating whiff of Broadway success. But Holbrook's memoir, written as though he felt the need to offer a clerical hand for his entry in the Book of Life, is too ploddingly encyclopedic to become another classic of the genre.

WASHINGTON -- Congress is considering commemorative coins to honor the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Mark Twain and the centennial of Mother's Day. Now a group of lawmakers wants some change. Specifically, they want some of proceeds from the coin sales to help erase Washington's red ink. They contend that commemorative coins are being used to circumvent the congressional ban on lawmakers earmarking funds for pet projects. Under their legislation, Congress could still issue commemorative coins, but any proceeds - after paying for the coin's production - would go to deficit reduction "instead of becoming a money-maker for private entities," said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.)

The Complete Short Stories Mark Twain Introduction by Adam Gopnik Everyman's Library: 716 pp., $28 Mark Twain was on the lecture circuit for over three decades. He would take the stage feigning bemusement at discovering his audience and stand silently smoking one of the 30 cigars he would enjoy that day. He was a solitary performer working in dusty, drafty, dimly lit halls, sans audio equipment, Twain knew every trick to keep his audiences engaged. His delivery, emotion, intelligence and humor would bring crowds to their feet.