*In Person* EX LIBRIS: America’s Funny-Man: The Comic Genius of Mark Twain

The Providence Athenaeum enriches the mind, inspires the spirit, and elevates public discourse.As an independent, member-supported library and cultural center located on Providence’s historic Benefit Street, the library has welcomed illustrious writers, spirited thinkers, and intellectual community members through its doorsover its nearly 200 years of existenceto engage in reading, conversation, and debate.

Providence Athenæum

Historian Philip Gould explores some of the main thematic and psychological dimensions of Twain’s humor.

The Providence Athenæum

<h4>The EX LIBRIS program series from the Providence Athenæum features an array of humanities scholars, authors, historians, and thought leaders, illuminating fascinating topics and inspiring the intellectually curious. EX LIBRIS programs take place at the Athenæum in front of a live studio audience and are simulcast via Zoom, as well as recorded.</h4><h4>This is the IN-PERSON event. In-person $5 tickets are exclusively available to members. They include access to a pre-program reception from 5-5:30 and a post-program book sale, if applicable. To register for the virtual simulcast, please click <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-ex-libris-americas-funny-man-the-comic-genius-of-mark-twain-tickets-1545529112179?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-ex-libris-americas-funny-man-the-comic-genius-of-mark-twain-tickets-1545529112179?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</h4> In the 1860s Samuel Clemens invented the literary persona and stage-name “Mark Twain,” and became America’s most famous humorist and satirist—and perhaps the most famous American in the world by the time of his death in 1910. Today, we think of Twain as the author of the classic (and controversial) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; in his own day, he was known as both an author and comic performer. How did Twain bring Western humor traditions and vernacular language to lecture tours, stories, and novels to millions of people across the globe? Twain’s satirical humor deflated pretensions, violated Victorian cultural norms, and took on serious political issues such as slavery and U.S. imperialism. Historian Philip Gould explores some of the main thematic and psychological dimensions of Twain’s humor, which probed what he saw as the darker side of human nature.-A graduate of Brown University (BA, History) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (PhD English Literature), Philip Gould has been a professor in the English Department at Brown University since the late 1990s. He is Israel J. Kapstein Professor of English, and recently has published War Power: Literature and the State in the Civil War North (Oxford UP, 2024). He lives in Providence and is a member of the Providence Athenæum.

The Athenæum's Fall 2025 Season is generously sponsored by the following friends and partners:

Agenda

Join us for light refreshments before the program begins.

Pre-program reception

Speaker presentation followed by Q&A

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In Person EX LIBRIS: America’s Funny-Man: The Comic Genius of Mark Twain

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*In Person* EX LIBRIS: America’s Funny-Man: The Comic Genius of Mark Twain

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In Person EX LIBRIS: America’s Funny-Man: The Comic Genius of Mark Twain