Gerber and Twain

The Book that I used for my Précis is called Mark Twain by John C. Gerber. A known historian on the subject of Mark Twain, Gerber has edited several revisions of Twain’s works such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I looked at a chapter in his book about the adventures Twain went on himself and how they influenced his writings. It did not directly correlate to Puddi’nhead Wilson, but I did find it very interesting in Twain’s travels through the American West and how much he desired travel.
Gerber relates Twain’s travels through the American West and the different groups he ran into on the way. He had several interactions with Native Americans and even made a stop off in Salt Lake City to visit the Mormons living in the area. Gerber also said that although his travels were true, in his writings some of the stories were fabricated to entice buyers to purchace his travel books. I found the use of the source interesting. It showed that Twain was not satisfied with only writing the stories, he needed to live them. Learning the information about the fabrications has opened my eyes to the validity of Twain’s works, I wonder how much was made up for sensationalism and how much actually happened. I plan on using this source again for my paper; I am interesting in the influences of Mark Twain. Although Twain was not directly influenced for Puddi’nhead Wilson by his western travels he was fascinated in science and new ideas, which were inspired by his other travels. I hope to find out more about these inspirations and hopefully find this influences for the use of fingerprinting in Puddi’nhead Wilson.