Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Ina Coolbrith, and Charles Stoddard are the four San Francisco Bohemian writers of the 1860s who set the course for American literature. This Mark Twain Valentine audiobook tells the story of their love triangle.

Mark Twain made sure that his full true-life story would not be told for 100 years after his death, so this story has never been heard publicly before!

Make a date with your sweetheart to listen in!

Mark Twain became a credited author for the first time while in San Francisco, a hundred years before the Summer of Love, with the publication of The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Twain and the other San Francisco Bohemian writers were in their twenties at the time. The de Young brothers were in their teens when they started the San Francisco Chronicle with Mark Twain as a reporter!

Bret Harte was the leader and mentor of San Francisco’s Bohemian writers, and Mark Twain competed with Bret for the attention of the enchanting poet Ina Coolbrith. This is the story of how that turned out... details kept from the public for over 160 years.

Ina held salons in her home on Russian Hill for her Bohemian friends and their patrons, which became the foundation for the Bohemian Club. Ina later became Oakland’s first librarian (where she mentored Jack London) and became the first poet laureate of any state. But the love triangle occurred during an earlier, more tumultuous time as the American Civil War was being brought to a close and San Francisco grew in sophistication.

This two-hour audiobook is important California history told with the droll sarcasm unique to Mark Twain. It should not be missed!

Jason Sullivan

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