"'What I lacked and what I needed, ' confessed Samuel Clemens in 1908, 'was grandchildren.' Near the end of his life, Clemens became the doting friend and correspondent of twelve schoolgirls ranging in age from ten to sixteen. For Clemens, 'collecting' these surrogate granddaughters was a way of overcoming his loneliness, a respite from the pessimism, illness, and depression that dominated his later years. In [this book], John Cooley brings together virtually every known communication exchanged between the writer and the girls he called his 'angelfish.' Cooley also includes a number of Clemens's notebook entries, autobiographical dictations, short manuscripts, and other relevant materials that further illuminate this ... story"--Publisher marketing.
