Using his upbringing in Hannibal, Missouri and experiences as both a riverboat captain and gold miner as resources for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and many of his other beloved works, Samuel Clemens would assume the moniker of Mark Twain and be hailed as one of the most recognized and respected authors of his time. Ken Burns' documentary on The Father of American Literature never really soars like it should and is perhaps a tad overlong, but benefits from Twain's spoken words (voiced by Kevin Conway) and appearances from Hal Holbrook (who has performed his Mark Twain Tonight! stage show for over 60 years) and Arthur Miller, though other Twain "experts" add very little.
*** out of ****
