[stevem]

I was glad to see Grant made the list. His memoirs were by far the best memoirs I ever read. It read like a fine novel, and had humor interspersed throughout...a dry humor that Grant was known for.

[Theodore R.]

Despite the excellence of Grant's memoirs (he could write), the book was a financial flop. It caused Mark Twain's publishing house to go bankrupt. Twain then went on a worldwide lecture tour to pay off his creditors. He insisted on keeping a commitment to Mrs. Grant though he was losing money on her royalties. Grant finished his memoirs, then died shortly afterwards of cancer.

Twain was offered 50 cents on the dollar by his creditors, but he insisted on paying all he owed -- hence his worldwide speaking tour. That's the tour where the London reporter asked Twain how he could still be living when there were reports that Twain had died. "Just say that reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated," said Twain, who did much of his writing from his Hartford home.