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But a book on Twain had been in his thoughts for decades, dating back to when he saw play him on stage in Philadelphia in the mid-1970s.

鈥淎nd there he was, with the white suit and cigar and mustache and he was tossing out one hilarious line after another,鈥� the 76-year-old Chernow says, remembering such Twain quips as 鈥淭here’s no distinctly Native American criminal class, except Congress.鈥� Chernow became fascinated by Twain as a prototype of the modern celebrity and found himself drawn less to 鈥淢ark Twain the novelist than the pundit, the personality and the platform artist.鈥�

Chernow admittedly is more comfortable with the researchable world of facts than with the more intangible qualities of the imagination. But he found much to identify with Twain, relating to him as a fellow widower (Twain outlived his wife, Olivia, by six years; Chernow’s wife, Valerie Stearn, died in 2006), as a public speaker and as an author fortunate enough to write full time.

Chernow also looks closely into subjects familiar to him 鈥� politics and finance, notably the various failed business ventures that left Twain short of money despite his author royalties and the inherited wealth of his wife. Toward the end of the book, the historian addresses the friendships an elderly Twain cultivated with teen and preteen girls, whom Twain called his 鈥渁ngelfish.鈥�

鈥淎t the time Twain鈥檚 behavior was regarded as the charming eccentricity of a beloved humorist with a soft spot for children. We look at that same behavior today and find it odd and disturbing. It’s important to get both perspectives,鈥� Chernow says. 鈥淭wain鈥檚 behavior was chaste and none of the angelfish or their parents ever accused him of improper or predatory behavior. At the same time, there was such an obsessive quality about Twain鈥檚 attention to these teenage girls 鈥� he devoted more time to them than to his own daughters.鈥�

During a recent interview at his Upper West Side Manhattan apartment, where his glass of Diet Coke stood on a coaster illustrated with a sketch of Twain receiving an honorary college degree, Chernow also reflected on Twain’s family, his politics and the sadness in his soul. Chernow’s comments have been condensed for clarity and brevity.

Political egos

鈥淚 really don鈥檛 know what he would say about Donald Trump. I could, yes, but I don鈥檛 want to guess. But we do know what he said about political figures of his own day. And he hated Teddy Roosevelt. He saw that Teddy Roosevelt had a very large ego, very self-absorbed and a Mr. Bombastic personality. But he (Twain) has a wonderful quote where he says that Teddy Roosevelt is the Tom Sawyer of the political world of the early 20th century. He said that he was always hunting for attention. And then he has this great line. He said that in his (Roosevelt’s) frenzied imagination, the great republic is one vast Barnum鈥檚 circus, and he is the clown, and the whole world is his audience.鈥�

The great man’s children

To actually read about the children of famous personalities is almost invariably sad, as it often is with Mark Twain. The one who suffered from this most acutely, I think was the middle daughter, Clara, who was kind of insanely competitive with her father and felt overshadowed by him, wanted to kind of trade on his reputation, but then didn鈥檛 want him to get the attention. She said that she would be in a room with her father, and she felt she was only Mark Twain鈥檚 daughter, that she was reduced to the level of a footstool. And she also had a very interesting line, one that has a very contemporary ring: He would come into the room and he would flood the room with talk.鈥�

Marrying up

鈥淭here’s that time when he goes to the Sandwich Islands and he meets the American diplomat Anson Burlingame, who advises him to 鈥渃ultivate your betters,鈥� which Twain really takes to heart. I think that with Twain, if someone asks me, you know, did he marry Olivia for her money? I would say definitely not. It was a true love match. And as Twain said late in life, there was not a single day of his marriage that she didn鈥檛 say, 鈥業 worship you,鈥� 鈥業 idolize you.鈥� This was just kind of pouring out of her and her letters. On the other hand, the more you know about Mark Twain, the more you know that he could never have married a poor woman.

鈥淎nd the irony of Twain鈥檚 life is that he spends his entire life attacking the plutocrats on the one hand, and on the other, he鈥檚 doing everything in his power to become one. This man embodies in his person every tendency of the time.鈥�

Laughing through the tears

鈥淭here鈥檚 a tremendous amount of self-loathing in him. I have a quote later in the book 鈥� he says that (poet Lord) Byron detested life because he detested himself. Twain said, 鈥業鈥檓 the same way.鈥� You know, that’s a really harsh, harsh thing to say. But I think that he saw all these impulses within himself that he was really powerless to stop. And then he realized he hurt other people. I think that Mark Twain did fit the stereotype of the funny man who鈥檚 sad and depressed under the surface and is kind of releasing that through the humor.鈥�