Presented as a chapter of his autobiography, Twain’s 1909 essay ranks Shakespeare among history’s famous claimants and asks how much anyone actually knows about the man from Stratford. He mocks biographers’ guesses, leans on the argument that the plays show a lawyer’s knowledge, and mixes in recollections of his Mississippi piloting days and of the Shakespeare-loving pilot he once argued with.
Sceptical, funny and contrary, it shows Twain at play with one of literature’s oddest debates. Download the free EPUB.