2017 Quadrennial Mark Twain Studies Conference Keynote By Ben Tarnoff Available for Streaming & Download

Ben Tarnoff, author of The Bohemians: Mark Twain & the San Francisco Writer Who Reinvented American Literaturegave the keynote address at the 8th International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies, hosted by the Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College.

Tarnoff’s talk, “Vulgarity from Below, Vulgarity from Above: Twain in the Age of Trump,” creatively addresses the most common and confounding question addressed to Twain scholars in 2017: What would Mark Twain think of these times we live in?

Tarnoff’s talk is now available for streaming and download, as are many others in our archives.

Conference co-organizers, Kerry Driscoll and Ann Ryan, selected Tarnoff not only because of his (relatively) recent and acclaimed book on a crucial early phase of Twain’s career, but also because of his background (unique among conference participants) as a millennial journalist covering technology, politics, youth culture, and globalization, most recently as a frequent contributor to The Guardian.

We hope you will enjoy Ben’s talk as much as we did.