Nigey spends the first segment of the interview discussing Twain’s experiences in California and the American West. Nigey believes that Twain’s experiences as a “frontier” journalist nurtured his literary skills because frontier journalism was more about telling a good story than factual story. Nigey also discusses Twains personal relationships and their impact on his writing. During the second segment, Nigey discusses the problems she saw in Twain criticism, which she saw as overly psychological and not grounded in the socio-cultural contexts that influenced Twain’s work. Nigey also discusses being a good biographer and the approach she took in writing about Twain.
Twain, Mark, 1835-1910 - Homes and haunts - California Bohemianism - California - History - 19th century Authors, American - 19th century - Biography Journalists - United States - Biography California - Intellectual life - 19th century California - Biography
Source
U-matic tape: Excerpt of show with Martinson interviewing Nigey Lennon before commercial break and Lionel Rolfe after the break
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