American Vandal

Morris is a first-rate tour guide. He knows his subject, cites other authorities with respect and presents a good deal of information with easygoing, professional smoothness. [An] entertaining and—despite its title—eminently civilized book. -- Michael Dirda * Washington Post *
American Vandal provides a fresh account of the great satirist’s life and work by arguing that his world view was the product of experience that was unusual for a popular American writer in this period. It offers us an account of the dozen years in total which Twain spent overseas, part of a life of travel that included twenty-nine transatlantic crossings, excursions across India, New Zealand, the Mediterranean and Caribbean… One strength of American Vandal is that Morris places Twain’s travel writings at the heart of his achievement. -- Tom F. Wright * Times Literary Supplement *
If you want a guide through [Twain’s] travelogues or through the experiences that produced them, then you could not find a better one than Twain biographer Roy Morris Jr. He is not merely well-informed about his subject, he is truly attuned to the mind and sensibility of the man… American Vandal shows a consistently sure and wise touch. -- Martin Rubin * Washington Times *
Morris writes smoothly and engagingly about Mark Twain’s travels, through life as much as through foreign scenes. -- D. E. Sloane * Choice *
In this vibrant, fresh look at the venerable writer, historian Morris traces Twain’s journeys and his evolving perspective on world politics and peoples… A brisk narrative and sensitive insights make this book a delight. * Kirkus Reviews *
For readers not familiar with Mark Twain’s travel literature, Morris will open up a new facet of his extensive writing career… This lively overview provides an accessible entry point to the lesser‐known works of a great American writer. * Publishers Weekly *
Only an accomplished storyteller should dare to take up the life of our most revered raconteur, and Morris measures up. There is no shortage of Twain biographies; one as well researched and as well told as this one deserves to be among them. -- Lawrence Howe, author of Mark Twain and the Novel: The Double Cross of Authority
Morris effectively evokes both the personal and political realities behind Twain’s fictions and semi-fictions to demonstrate how Twain himself debunked then-prevalent myths of travel and of national character. American Vandal gives readers a fresh view of Mark Twain while casting a revealing light on American identity. -- James Leonard, editor of The Mark Twain Journal