Everything was going well for the jaunty young man. "He was already one of the 'aristocrats of the river' -- a Mississippi steamboat pilot earning the princely sum of $250 a month." This gave him the leisure to dine sumptuously on shrimp and oysters, continue his self education by reading Suetonius and Shakespeare -- and to visit a clairvoyant.
Goodheart explores a letter written by Clemens to his brother Orion, that describes the experience in detail. "That Feb. 6, 1861 letter is one of the few detailed ones to survive from a pivotal time in Sam Clemens's life," he says. "It casts a strange -- perhaps even unearthly -- light on the complicated young man who would soon be Mark Twain."
Well worth a thoughtful read. Follow the link embedded in the title above.
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