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The Autobiography of Mark Twain Audiobook
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(4.00) - 1,138 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Mark Twain's daughter, Susy, wrote: "Papa…doesn't like to go to church at all, why I never understood, until just now, he told us the other day that he couldn't bear to hear any one talk but himself, but that he could listen to himself talk for hours without getting tired, of course he said this in joke, but I've no dought [sic] it was founded on truth."—from the book
Here is one of the great autobiographies of the English language: exuberant, wonderfully contemporary in spirit, written by a man twice as large as life, who—he said so himself—had no trouble remembering everything that had ever happened to him, and a lot of things besides.
Nothing ever happened to Mark Twain in a small way. His adventures were invariably fraught with drama. Success and failure for him were equally spectacular. And so he roared down the years, feuding with publishers, being a sucker for inventors, always learning wisdom at the point of ruin and always relishing the absurd spectacle of humankind, whom he regarded with a blend of vitriol and affection.
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"On receiving the news of his daughter's death: "It is one of the mysteries of our nature that a man, all unprepared, can receive a thunder-stroke like that and live. There is but one reasonable explanation of it. The intellect is stunned by the shock and but gropingly gathers the meaning of the words. The power to realize their full import is mercifully wanting. The mind has a dim sense of vast loss -- that is all. It will take mind and memory months and possibly years to gather the details and thus learn and know the whole extent of the loss. A man's house burns down. The smoking wreckage represents only a ruined home that was dear through years of use and pleasant associations. By an by, as the days and weeks go on, first he misses this, then that, then the other thing. And when he casts about for it he finds that it was in that house. Always it is an essential -- there was but one of its kind. It cannot be replaced. It was in that house. It is irrevocably lost. He did not realize that it was an essential when he had it; he only discovers it now when he finds himself balked, hampered, by its absence. It will be years before the tale of lost essentials is complete, and not till then can he truly know the magnitude of his disaster.""
— Ethan (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“A book filled with richnesses of humor and tragedy of disappointment and triumph, of sweetness and bitterness, and all in that unsurpassed American prose.”
— New York Herald Tribune Book Review -
“It is worth reading because the man is in it.”
— Saturday Review -
“Magnificently alive.”
— Library Journal -
“The book is pleasing and will invite readers to learn more of this great man of letters who was sensitive to the comic and the tragic of his times.”
— Wisconsin Library Bulletin
The Autobiography of Mark Twain Listener Reviews
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" THIS BOOK WAS SO GREAT, you can hear his voice as you read it. It so affected me that I began speaking like the author for weeks after reading the book. I also bought a white seersucker suit. My girlfriend doesn't get it. "
— Neil, 2/17/2014 -
" I had to stop reading this one half way through. I got the feeling this was Mark Twain's last joke on the world. "
— Dirk, 2/14/2014 -
" introduction and referencing was long and dull (probably 200 pages worth)...once the book got into the rhythm of Twain's daily musings, it became fun and interesting. "
— JR, 1/31/2014 -
" I really feel like I should give this book five stars and write about how amazing it was, but I could not get into it and eventually had to give it up. Oh Mark, you will always have a place in my heart, but just not on my bookshelf. "
— Julia, 1/16/2014 -
" The Autobiography part of this work by Albert B. Paine is very good and interesting, but the essays I found repetitious and boring. Next for me is the new autobiography published in 2010, 100 years after Mark Twain's death in 1910. "
— Gerry, 1/14/2014 -
" Offers incredible insight into the life of one of America's finest writers "
— Angelo, 1/7/2014 -
" Insightful, witty, brilliant, Twain is truly the father of American Lit "
— Tai, 1/1/2014 -
" This is a typical Twain story, full of humor and pathos, except this was the story he was living. A truly remarkable man, but certainly not without his quirks and deep fault lines. A moving story of great success, great tragedy and stubborn determination to soldier on. "
— Andrew, 12/30/2013 -
" Surprised myself by getting through it. Funny man. "
— W, 12/24/2013 -
" Fabulous. Except the quote I use most often actually came from Disraeli. "
— Carol, 12/19/2013 -
" Filled with truth and stretchers. I like the stretchers best. "
— Newengland, 12/15/2013 -
" Excellent, this man sure went through a lot to get where he did. Explains a lot of his writing though. "
— Heather, 12/4/2013 -
" I liked the work of Mark Twain already but I was really moved by this autobiography. In the end, the story is really sad and I was nearly crying over something that happened more than a 100 years ago. A great writer. "
— Esther, 8/10/2013 -
" Unfortunately, I have to agree with the general concensus that this work was 'over-egged', by writers of a lesser stature than the maestro himself, effectively nullifying the enjoyment that I had originally envisioned. Schade. Robert Davidson. The Tuzla Run "
— Bob, 4/23/2013 -
" A look into the life and times of one of the 19th century's literary giants. Mark Twain lived an interesting life and left his mark on the world. I enjoyed the book, especially the first half. Toward the end it got slow, but as a whole i would recommend it. "
— David, 11/11/2012 -
" Wonderful. I laughed out loud most of the time, and his insights from all those years ago ring true today. "
— Susan, 9/6/2012 -
" My feelings swing wildly between bursts of laughter to shocking slaps in the face of the harsh realities of race relations and bigotry of the day. This is a classic for so many reasons... "
— Olivia, 8/8/2012 -
" This was an interesting read, charming but a bit unfocused. I liked the way it kind of skipped around but by the end I was a little tired of keeping track of who was who. "
— Tamara, 5/28/2012 -
" My favorite book of all time. "
— Irma, 4/17/2012 -
" A little over year after having taken a river boat cruise down the Mississippi, from Minnesota to St Louis, stopping overnight in Hannibal, Missouri, I have now completed the 2 books I bought in Hannibal. This autobiography is written in typical folksy, story-telling, Mark Twain fashion. "
— Lauren, 12/16/2011 -
" This is one of the best books I've ever read. You should read it. "
— Andre, 10/21/2011 -
" It was interesting but hard to read because I couldn't help think he added a lot of fluff to the pages. A great writer, and man who lived in one of the most interesting points in history. "
— Michael, 10/18/2011 -
" Mark Twain--such a great writer--love his style and wit. "
— Jan, 5/20/2011 -
" The first part was a bit dry, a description of the process of collating the autobiography. But once you got over the nature of the book it was, for all Samuel Clemens fans worthwile.<br/> "
— Mike, 5/16/2011 -
" I love Mark Twain's voice! He can tell the most mundane story in such a wonderful way. I can almost hear his Missouri-lilt and see him rocking back in a chair, with a cigar in hand as I read the stories of his life. "
— Mimi, 5/1/2011 -
" Got through it with a mix of listening and reading. Some parts are great, other parts are less than great. If only he live long enough to edit it. I can't believe there is another volume. "
— Mike, 4/27/2011 -
" Fascinating. Waiting for vol 2 "
— Nancy, 4/27/2011 -
" Too much scholarship, too many footnotes and not enough Twain. "
— Raisonbr, 4/20/2011 -
" Wonderfully entertaining. Skip the first 100 pages and get right to the biography. "
— Lilly-Anne, 4/4/2011 -
" Tried to listen to all 20 audio CD's. Whoa. Twain overload- and there are two more volumes. He has interesting insight into his contemporaries. I loved the description of Grant. I will buy the hardcover version and dip into it as I revisit 19th century literature. "
— Mrs.Schoener, 4/2/2011 -
" Sometimes amusing, mostly boring. "
— Joe, 4/1/2011 -
" Long. Authoritative. Includes much that was previously available. For someone who is obsessed with Twain, I'm sure it would be a treasure trove. But for the casual fan, such as myself, it frankly a bit too much. "
— Chris, 3/28/2011
About Mark Twain
Mark Twain, pseudonym of Samuel L. Clemens (1835–1910), was born in Florida, Missouri, and grew up in Hannibal on the west bank of the Mississippi River. He attended school briefly and then at age thirteen became a full-time apprentice to a local printer. When his older brother Orion established the Hannibal Journal, Samuel became a compositor for that paper and then, for a time, an itinerant printer. With a commission to write comic travel letters, he traveled down the Mississippi. Smitten with the riverboat life, he signed on as an apprentice to a steamboat pilot. After 1859, he became a licensed pilot, but two years later the Civil War put an end to the steam-boat traffic.
In 1861, he and his brother traveled to the Nevada Territory where Samuel became a writer for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, and there, on February 3, 1863, he signed a humorous account with the pseudonym Mark Twain. The name was a river man’s term for water “two fathoms deep” and thus just barely safe for navigation.
In 1870 Twain married and moved with his wife to Hartford, Connecticut. He became a highly successful lecturer in the United States and England, and he continued to write.
About Michael Anthony
Michael Anthony is an actor and director with a lengthy resume in the Washington, DC, area.