The friendship of Ulysses S. Grant and Mark Twain by no means changed America. It was, however, a remarkable and fascinating relationship that, though already intelligently told in numerous other volumes, is related quite well here. As Perry (A Fire in Zion: The Israeli-Palestinian Search for Peace
) relates it, in 1881 Twain urged Grant—out of office and out of favor—to write his memoirs, but Grant refused. He reminded Twain that two accounts of his military exploits (by other authors) had been unmitigated flops. A few years later, bankrupt and afflicted with agonizing throat cancer, Grant finally agreed to write four articles for the Century Magazine
on some of his Civil War battles. The Century
also offered to publish his memoirs. Twain, on hearing Grant might be willing to write a book, hurried back to New York from a lecture tour to scoop the project away from the Century
and arrange for publication by a small firm he controlled. Once the deal was done, Grant labored in a grim race to finish his narrative before cancer finished him. He completed his story—a masterpiece of fluent directness containing absolutely vital insights on Union army command strategies—in July 1885 and died soon after. Published a few months later, the Memoirs
have never since been out of print. Perry does an excellent job of narrating Grant's and Twain's parallel lives and showing how their intersection at the end of Grant's life led to the creation of an American classic. 16 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW
. Agent, Gail Ross.
(On sale May 4)
