{"product_id":"the-bohemians-mark-twain-and-the-san-francisco-writers-who-reinvented-american-literature-9781594204739","title":"The Bohemians: Mark Twain and the San Francisco Writers Who Reinvented American Literature","description":"\u003cp\u003eMark Twain roars into San Francisco in 1863. Pretty soon he's drunk on champagne, oysters, and the city's intoxicating energy. Twenty-seven years old, fleeing the Civil War and seeking adventure, Twain finds a global seaport flush with new money and peopled by fortune seekers from five continents. The war that is ravaging the rest of the country has only made San Francisco richer- the economy booms, and newspapers and magazines thrive, feeding the city's growing literary scene. The bards of the moment are the Bohemians, a band of young eccentric writers seeking to create a new American voice at the country's edge. There's literary golden boy Bret Harte; struggling gay poet Charles Warren Stoddard; and beautiful, haunted Ina Coolbrith, poet and protector of the group. Twain joins their ranks, and the experiences that follow put him on the path to greatness.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Bohemians find inspiration in their surroundings- the dark ironies of frontier humor, the extravagant tales told around the campfires, and the youthful irreverence of the new world being formed in the West. Harte is the group's star, a rising figure on the national scene and mentor to both Stoddard and Coolbrith. Young and ambitious, Twain and Harte form the Bohemian core, but as Harte's reputation grows - drawing attention from eastern tastemakers such as the \u003ci\u003eAtlantic Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e- a young Twain flounders, suffering a crisis of confidence that almost leads him to abandon writing altogether.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Ben Tarnoff's elegant, atmospheric history reveals how these four pioneering western writers reinvented American literature by challenging the musty classicism of the eastern establishment. The Bohemian moment that began in San Francisco would continue in Boston, New York, and London, and would achieve immortality in the writings of Mark Twain. San Francisco gave him his education as a writer and helped inspire the astonishing innovations that radically reimagined American literature. At once an intimate portrait of an unforgettable group of writers and a history of a cultural revolution in America, \u003ci\u003eThe Bohemians\u003c\/i\u003ereveals how a brief moment on the Far Western frontier changed our country forever.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for Ben Tarnoff's \u003ci\u003eA Counterfeiter's Paradise\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e'Ben Tarnoff captures the wild early years of America's financial system . . . . It's a colorful tale but also an enlightening one that helps us understand our financial culture back then - and even today.' \u003cb\u003eWalter Isaacson, author of \u003ci\u003eSteve Jobs\u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eBenjamin Franklin- An American Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e'Fascinating . . . history as it should be written, brimming with the sort of vivid details that make the past come alive.' \u003cb\u003eLiaquat Ahamed, author of \u003ci\u003eLords of Finance\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e'Tarnoff is the genuine article. I welcome his voice to that tiny chorus of writers who can make American history come alive without dumbing it down.' \u003cb\u003eJoseph J. Ellis, author of \u003ci\u003eFounding Brothers\u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eAmerican Sphinx\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e'What an ingenious idea for a book and what a rousing story! A truly gifted writer, Ben Tarnoff has brought to life three unforgettable characters while at the same time providing a window onto the tumultuous financial situation that characterized early American life.' \u003cb\u003eDoris Kearns Goodwin, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Bully Pulpit- Theodore Roosevelt\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWilliam Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism\u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eTeam of Rivals\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e'Lively and insightful . . . makes the most out of the entertaining tale of three master counterfeiters, using their careers to open an unexpected window on the making of the American economic imagination.' \u003cb\u003eT. J. Stiles, author of \u003ci\u003eThe First Tycoon- The Epic Life of Cornelous Vanderbilt\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eJesse James- Last Rebel of the Civil War\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e'A rollicking good read.'\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"More Than Words ","offers":[{"title":"Used - Good","offer_id":53047480221856,"sku":"9781594204739-used-good","price":6.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0463\/0115\/1392\/files\/51DzbFEW95L.jpg?v=1763698710","url":"https:\/\/shop.mtwyouth.org\/products\/the-bohemians-mark-twain-and-the-san-francisco-writers-who-reinvented-american-literature-9781594204739","provider":"More Than Words ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}