Mark Twain 聴 the humorist, river boat captain, newspaper reporter, logger and writer 聴 spent several years trudging around the West, absorbing experiences that would one day surface in his famous stories and books.
Those experiences will be one of the topics covered by Leland Krauth, associate professor of English at the 乐播传媒 at Boulder, during his talk "A Talent for Posturing: Mark Twain in the West," on Oct. 5 from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in room 235 of the University Memorial Center.
The lecture, presented by the Center of the American West, will focus on Twain聮s ability to posture 聴 to fit in with the hellions one moment and the "proper society" folks the next 聴 as well as his activities while he was in the West.
Krauth, who began his career at CU-Boulder in 1967, became interested in Twain initially through a class he taught.
"I began to teach a course about Twain because I thought it would be fun," he said. "Then I got interested in him and wrote a number of critical articles about his writing."
Krauth聮s interest in the author grew, and eventually lead him to research and write a book, "Proper Mark Twain," which was published last summer and will be discussed during the talk.
"There聮s more to Mark Twain than just a humorist," Krauth said. "I will talk about the funny side, but I am also going to talk about some of the issues that he posed, many of which are still with us."
The sponsor of the talk, the Center of the American West, uses the resources of CU-Boulder to explore, debate and celebrate the distinctive qualities of the West.
Professor Krauth聮s book, "Proper Mark Twain," will be available for purchase and signing after the talk.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information call (303) 492-4879 or visit the Web site at .