Synopses & Reviews
Filled with the remarkable wit and humor of America's favorite storyteller, A Mark Twain Christmas gives readers insight into Twain's life through little known stories about how he and his family celebrated this treasured holiday. “If my boot should leave a stain on the marble…leave it there always in memory of my visit…and let it remind you to be a good little girl.” When Market Twain penned this enchanting letter from “Your loving Santa Claus” to his daughter Susy in 1875, a holiday tradition was born inside the Twain family home. And while Twain is celebrated as the sharpest satirist in American letters, he always had a soft spot for Christmas.
A Mark Twain Christmas is in turns charming, heartwarming, and heartbreaking, and it ultimately reaffirms the magic of the Christmas spirit. Looking in on three holiday seasons with Twain, we learn more about the man than we ever knew before, and we discover fascinations from gifted elephants to burglar letters to Santa’s bootprints. But most of all, we regain an understanding of what is most important in our own lives, and that is the greatest gift of the Christmas season.
Review
"A heartwarming tale of Christmas past that's chock full of all the wit and hilarity we admire in America's favorite humorist--Mark Twain.
Review
"A heartwarming tale of Christmas past that's chock full of all the wit and hilarity we admire in America's favorite humorist--Mark Twain.
Review
"A heartwarming tale of Christmas past that's chock full of all the wit and hilarity we admire in America's favorite humorist--Mark Twain. Carlo DeVito brings us back one hundred years to a magical time in Twain's family life, revealing a house that's brimming with love and laughter, as well as the profound heartbreaks of life. A Mark Twain Christmas only deepens our understanding and respect for both the man and his work."
Synopsis
In Mark Twain’s Christmas, readers get magical insight into Twain’s life through this treasured holiday. The book is broken up into 4 sections: 1908, 1875, and 1909 and the Epilogue. The story is laugh out loud funny, charming, heart-warming, heartbreaking and ultimately reaffirming of Twain and the Christmas spirit.
In Mark Twain’s Christmas, Twain’s ultimate Christmas gift, we get a magical insight into Twain’s life through this treasured holiday. The book is broken up into four sections: 1908, 1875, 1909, and the Epilogue. The story is laugh out loud funny, charming, heart-warming, heartbreaking, and ultimately reaffirming of Twain and the Christmas spirit. And of course, it’s filled with Twain’s remarkable wit and humor. This 17,000 word manuscript is designed to fit into a small 5 x 7 hardcover package, at approximately 166 pages.
Synopsis
In A Mark Twain Christmas, Twain's ultimate Christmas gift, readers get magical insight into Twain's life through this treasured holiday. Filled with the remarkable wit and humor from America's favorite storyteller, this book is the first Twain Christmas book to be published.
Synopsis
Mark Twain was obsessed in his personal life by Christmas. During his lifetime, especially the halcyon days between the writing of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Twain lived with his wife and daughters in a massive, sprawling mansion (1874 to 1891) that was festooned each year for the holiday season. The family were among the most giving, lavish and famous practitioners of Christmas in the region at the height of the Gilded Age. The story is laugh out loud funny, charming, heartwarming, heartbreaking, and ultimately reaffirming of Twain and the Christmas spirit. The book is broken up into four sections: 1908,1875, 1909 and the Epilogue. A Mark Twain Christmas will release just before Volume 2 of Twain's long anticipated autobiography.
About the Author
Carlo DeVito is a notable publisher, editor, author, and winemaker. He has written on dogs, sports, and wine. His three dog books were very successful, including the Everything Puppy Book (now in its second edition), the Everything Dog Book (now in its second edition), and his most recent dog book, 10 Secrets My Dog Taught Me. His most notable sports books include D. Wayne: The High-Rolling and Fast Times of America’s Premiere Horse Trainer; Wellington: The Maras, The Giants and The City of New York; and Yogi: The Life and Times of an American Original. Carlo and his wife Dominique own the highly acclaimed Hudson-Chatham Winery in Ghent, New York. He is also the editor/author of the popular and widely respected blog East Coast Wineries (www.eastcoastwineries.blogspot.com), which reviews wines from Maine to Virginia and is an extension of his book East Coast Wineries: The Complete Guide from Maine to Virginia (Rutgers University Press, 2001). Carlo he has appeared on television dozens of times including multiple times as guests on CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX morning shows in New York, as well as throughout the eastern seaboard. He has been a featured guest on WFAN (both TV and Radio), ESPN radio, WCBS and WABC radio, WAMC, and more than 60 radio stations nationwide. He has edited and written more than a dozen books reviewed in The Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, and other national newspapers. As an editor and publisher, Carlo has acquired, edited, and published such authors as Stephen Hawking, Malachy McCourt, John Edgar Wideman, Stanley Crouch, Dee Brown, Dan Rather, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Eleanor Clift, Susie Bright, Jane Goodall, Philip Caputo, Julia Alvarez, Budd Schulberg, Haynes Johnson, Dr. Howard Shapiro, Bo Dietl, Thomas Hoving, Peter Kaminisky, and Penelope Hobhouse. He published Strange Fruit, by David Margolich, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and was instrumental in the acquisition of The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. As publisher of Miniature Editions, he introduced several new lines and licenses, including …for Dummies, Joy of Cooking, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Deepak Chopra, Suze Orman, and the Sweet Potato Queens. He also created the Mini Kit, with more than 20 million units to date. At Simon & Schuster, he was one of key planners of the Scriber Library paperback line as well as editor of Best American Erotica.