Ignorance, Confidence, and Filthy Rich Friends The Business Adventures of Mark Twain, Chronic Speculator and Entrepreneur

Ignorance, Confidence, and Filthy Rich Friends illuminates this little-known side of an American icon in an engaging and informative narrative that details a business career full of adventure, ambition, and insightful instruction. Author Peter Krass examines all the critical events and circumstances that shaped Twain's "Robber Baron" perspective on money and business. He reveals how, while often torn between being an enlightened man of letters and a materialistic capitalist, Twain was motivated by a relentless desire to accumulate great wealth. Krass traces the source of this sometimes unhealthy compulsion to the writer's boyhood-when he developed an irrational fear of poverty after his father's business ventures failed. At times as entertaining and dramatic as one of Twain's own works, this fascinating book tells how the legendary writer and humorist made millions in today's dollars publishing the memoirs of General Ulysses S. Grant. It details his escapades as a venture capitalist-one who made significant investments in some twenty start-up firms-and as a Wall Street investor with a sizable stock portfolio. It also tells how, often at the expense of his book projects, he promoted his own inventions, including a children's game he patented in 1885 and numerous other gadgets for everyday use.