Part of our Trouble Begins Series – “What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know. It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.” - Mark Twain

What’s a “Twain’t”? It’s a work that draws on Mark Twain’s writings, characters, or image but isn’t actually by him. These can include books, comics, advertisements, or parodies that either pay tribute to or exploit Twain’s legacy. They might mimic his style, use his quotes, or feature his characters, but they’re not the real thing.

Kevin will take us through a fascinating collection of Twain’ts—from the comic to the tragic. We’ll explore Twain’s first appearance as a fictional character in someone else’s work (1870), the earliest bookplate inspired by Twain (1912), novels based on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, advertising that falsely attributes aphorisms to Twain, and much more, from 1870 to today. While it’s easy to dismiss Twain’ts as trivial, they offer valuable insight into Twain’s cultural influence and reflect the times in which they were created. This tour will be fun, but with some serious reflections beneath the surface.

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The Trouble Begins Series is features distinguished scholars who discuss elements of the life, work, and era of Mark Twain and use them to explore wider themes in the humanities and both historical and current issues.

About the Author:

Kevin Mac Donnell earned his MLS from the University of Texas and serves on the editorial boards of the Mark Twain Journal and Firsts Magazine. His essays on Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Herman Melville, and others have appeared in various books and journals. He co-edited Mark Twain’s Rubaiyat (1983), contributed to the Mark Twain Encyclopedia (1993), and co-edited Mark Twain and Youth (2016). His discovery of Mark Twain’s pen name source went viral and was recognized by The Chronicle of Higher Education. In 2016, he was honored as a Mark Twain Legacy Scholar. In 2023, he discovered a photograph of Mark Twain’s butler, George Griffin, and wrote his biography, now with a literary agent. Mac Donnell’s collection of over 12,000 Mark Twain items is the largest privately held and frequently shared with scholars and museums.