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The Autobiography of Mark Twain
"Mark Twain's autobiography is a classic of American letters, to be ranked with the autobiographies of Benjamin Franklin and Henry Adams.... It has the marks of greatness in it--style, scope, imagination, laughter, tragedy."--From the Introduction by Charles NeiderMark Twain was a figure larger than fife: massive in talent, eruptive in temperament, unpredictable in his act...more
Paperback, complete, 508 pages
Published
November 28th 2000
by Harper Perennial Modern Classics
(first published April 1959)
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“In this Autobiography I shall keep in mind that I am speaking from the grave. I am literally speaking from the grave, because I shall be dead when the book issues from the press”(Twain xxxv).
The Autobiography of Mark Twain explores the many aspects and anecdotes of Mark Twain’s life, as well as the many people who influenced Twain and his work immensely. He reveals his personal thoughts of the people around him, and the world around him. He reveals himself as a person who writes what he knows,...more
The Autobiography of Mark Twain explores the many aspects and anecdotes of Mark Twain’s life, as well as the many people who influenced Twain and his work immensely. He reveals his personal thoughts of the people around him, and the world around him. He reveals himself as a person who writes what he knows,...more
Painful and wonderful.
Read the full review:
http://roofbeamreader.net/2012/06/12/...
Read the full review:
http://roofbeamreader.net/2012/06/12/...
I'm not sure this is a book that you read cover to cover. It's more like a Mark Twain smorgasbord. Twain wanted to make sure that his autobiography wasn't predictable. So it doesn't unfold in any well ordered way which is fine. It really is just a series of reminiscences, anecdotes, tales and memories. The differences that it's Mark Twain who is telling the stories. So in almost every case not only are they fascinating because they are about him and about his life, but because they are being tol...more
Dec 16, 2010
Larry Bassett
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
autobiography,
southern-writers
This is NOT the Mark Twain Post 100 years Autobiography that everyone is talking about. This book was copyrighted in 1959 by the editor Charles Neider. The 2010 Autobiography of Mark Twain. Vol. 1 is found elsewhere on GRs.
Neider's most important book, however, was arguably The Autobiography of Mark Twain (1959), in which he fashioned a chronological structure that was lacking in the original material and included never-before-published passages. Certainly the most widely read version of Mark Tw...more
Striking: his use of chiasmus (crossing of terms in one sentence). For instance: "When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened. It is sad to go to pieces like this but we all have to do it" (p. 4). Well, that's high lit and philosophy, all packaged with one powerful sense of humor, plus a touch of teasing. Worse part is that I do feel that way about n...more
Jul 07, 2008
Brian Flatt
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in the human drama of one of the world's most beloved authors
Ok, I have decided to mete out the 5 stars sparingly. The rating wouldn't mean much if it was given to just any old book that I happened to like.
This book though, is without a doubt, one of those few that actually deserves more than 5 stars and it is therefore one of my favorite books of all time.
Why?
Well, I think there are some books that you read and you think, upon closing the last page, "Hmmm, that was a pretty good book", but then if asked about it a few days later you might be hard pres...more
This book though, is without a doubt, one of those few that actually deserves more than 5 stars and it is therefore one of my favorite books of all time.
Why?
Well, I think there are some books that you read and you think, upon closing the last page, "Hmmm, that was a pretty good book", but then if asked about it a few days later you might be hard pres...more
I ought to have read through this much faster and less thoroughly since I was looking specifically for musical references while researching a Twain-themed library music program, but I couldn't help but read through most of it, especially towards the beginning. Yes, Twain constantly rambles into miscellaneous musings but those musings are often pure gold, skillfully rendered with often gut-splittingly hilarity.
He was an international celebrity at this point who didn't have to write anything exc...more
He was an international celebrity at this point who didn't have to write anything exc...more
I found this book to be fascinating. There are personal philosophies, political aspects and well thought out plans incorporated in every page. Being one who journals, I was intrigued by the notes Twain left behind, things like "publish all of this but not until I am dead." the thought of not publishing his biography until he had been dead for a hundred years was genius, no worries about offending friends and acquaintances because they would also be gone as would likely be there children and pote...more
Even after a hundred years, you can’t beat Mark Twain for originality. After fiddling around with the idea of an autobiography or memoir for a couple of decades, rejecting most of his efforts as too literary, he finally around 1902 hit on the idea of 1) eschewing chronology; and 2) dictating rather than writing the story of his life. Chronology ruined spontaneity, he reasoned, and allowed the writer to distort time and facts and hide behind the need to stick to a time line. The act of writing le...more
We were vacationing and going to Hartford, Connecticut - home of Mark Twain and I decided to get a book on him, to get to know him so the visit to his house would mean more.
Well, the neighborhood wasn't the best in Hartford and our friends decided not to go to the house, but I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
Mark Twain was quite the rascal in real life. The books tells of his real adventures, like placing bees in his friends bed and watching his friend climb in the bed with...more
Well, the neighborhood wasn't the best in Hartford and our friends decided not to go to the house, but I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
Mark Twain was quite the rascal in real life. The books tells of his real adventures, like placing bees in his friends bed and watching his friend climb in the bed with...more
I really enjoyed this autobiography. Mark Twain for decades grappled with the best method to deliver his memoir. In the last 6 years of his life he decided that the "Final (and Right) Plan" would be a collection of dictations and manuscripts that catalog whatever thoughts popped into his mind at the time. The result is a collection of musings that are thoroughly entertaining. Although this volume is 750 pages (thank goodness for Kindle) the actual autobiography is a mere 270 pages. The long intr...more
(Note: I just realized that Goodreads is lumping together the user reviews for this version that was published in 1959 along with the reviews for volume 1 of the 2010 version. This review is for the 1959 version.)
I liked this book, and I found it worth reading. I'm having a hard time deciding on a rating, though. On one hand, how awesome is it to have thoughts, observations, and reflections of Mark Twain as he looks back on his life? The foreward warns that it may not all be "gospel fact," thoug...more
I liked this book, and I found it worth reading. I'm having a hard time deciding on a rating, though. On one hand, how awesome is it to have thoughts, observations, and reflections of Mark Twain as he looks back on his life? The foreward warns that it may not all be "gospel fact," thoug...more
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...more
Aug 19, 2007
John Wiswell
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Humor readers, biography readers, classics readers, literary readers
Why read anyone else on Mark Twain when you can read his own words? Twain was brutally honest, devoting entire chapters to times of personal loss and failure. He covers one particular night when he bombed at a lecture, showing no particular ego. In another he covers the night his brother died with savage emotional honesty. He explains as many aspects of his own development as he can think of, from growing cold in learning the ways of literature, to growing up on the Mississippi, to his spiritual...more
Twain is one of my idols, so this book was a real treat. It was oversold a bit, which is probably why I rated it four instead of five stars.
Academics should love it. Mere fans, such as myself, find a good deal to ignore.
Some readers of the print version have complained about the massive weight and the small type. I read the Kindle version so didn't have those problems, but finding any particular entry again is very difficult on the Kindle. Scholars will want the print version for easy reference...more
Academics should love it. Mere fans, such as myself, find a good deal to ignore.
Some readers of the print version have complained about the massive weight and the small type. I read the Kindle version so didn't have those problems, but finding any particular entry again is very difficult on the Kindle. Scholars will want the print version for easy reference...more
This is a great time travel book, and by the end it is also one of the most heartfelt intimate memoirs I've read. It has an open direct intimate feel to it all through, like reading letters from an unselfconscious old friend. He seems to have written a few pages at a time as stories occurred to him, which makes it a good book for dipping into. I read it as a bedside book, and it always kept me awake a little too long. Stories about his youthful adventures with crazy friends and business partners...more
Any one interested in American writing has to read this book. The insights into where Twain's material came from and how he made it into fiction are like a Great Course in American Literature.
The book has a special interest to me because Mark Twain was a contemporary of my great grandfather in Hartford. They were acquainted and traveled in the same circles. I think Twain was a guest at my ancestors' homes in Manchester.
The book has a special interest to me because Mark Twain was a contemporary of my great grandfather in Hartford. They were acquainted and traveled in the same circles. I think Twain was a guest at my ancestors' homes in Manchester.
I found this book VERY difficult to read and usually put me to sleep after a few pages. It was written in another era and I found myself having a tough time 'making' myself read this "classic". It was a book for bookclub, so I did not pick it, and not one person in my bookclub liked it either. Not ONE person finished the book. I stopped after page 250 and will be okay not finishing it.......
I am so glad to be finishing this book! Not just because Mark Twain is wonderful but because over 50% of this book is notes and a bio on everyone who was ever mentioned in this book. It was like buying a movie with extra dvds filled with bonus features. I personally would have just preferred reading Mark Twain's actual autobiography, but some readers may like all the extras. To each his own.
This work, 100 years in limbo, begins with a tedious introduction by the chief editor and a succession of false starts by Clemens himself. This is soon enough forgotten as Twain hits his stride handsomely. The change comes when the author begins to use an attentive secretary to take his dictation. To this is added a brilliant structure: Twain uses his deceased daughter's biography of himself, made when she was a schoolgirl, as a launching point for his own reminiscences.
I look forward to the ne...more
I look forward to the ne...more
Most of it is funny. And it’s frustrating when, compared to Twain, I’m leading an incredibly dull life. Everything that is interesting, funny, outrageous, supernatural & all seems to happen to him. And oh, the envy on his wittiness!
In some parts, it’s touchy. Not only the episodes about his mother and brother (characters in his books – Sid and Aunt Polly, for those who remember), but especially the memories about his wife and daughters. Susy’s biography, written when she was about 14 (have n...more
In some parts, it’s touchy. Not only the episodes about his mother and brother (characters in his books – Sid and Aunt Polly, for those who remember), but especially the memories about his wife and daughters. Susy’s biography, written when she was about 14 (have n...more
This was a really interesting audiobiography. Mark Twain wrote it with the condition that it would be published after his death. This condition gave him greater freedom to express how he REALLY felt. He was quite merciless to about a couple of people in his life whom he detested.
He was a great observer of human nature. I don't agree with all of his conclusions, but he was quite brilliant. He would have made a great psychologist or salesman because of his understanding of others.
The last chapter...more
He was a great observer of human nature. I don't agree with all of his conclusions, but he was quite brilliant. He would have made a great psychologist or salesman because of his understanding of others.
The last chapter...more
There were some clever quotes that I hope get into our lexicon, but overall it dragged with interminable stories with little to laugh about. There are some good zingers that are as fresh today as they were when he wrote them about our race relations in the USA. Slogged through some of the book, skipping sections of stories along the way.
Audiobook - I got about 1/3 of the way through and gave up. This is less an autobiography than a selection of essays. The big deal is that Twain instructed that it not be released until 100 years after his death. Mind you, the autobiography itself was never completed and it was left to the curators to stitch together the material. Perhaps I am missing something or am lacking a full appreciation of the talents of Twain but this long awaited tome left me cold.
Brilliantly and hilariously mean, for the most part. A rather disconnected collection of memories, anecdotes, and rants, set aside to be published posthumously. Twain spends several chapters each excoriating a former business partner of his and the writer Bret Hart. Of the widow of a poet friend, he says, "A strange and vanity-devoured, detestable woman! I do not believe I could ever learn to like her except on a raft at sea with no other provisions in sight." Most enjoyable. He also talks about...more
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| What ever happened to Mark Twain? | 3 | 5 | Sep 02, 2012 07:59pm |
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also work...more
More about Mark Twain...
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also work...more
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“A myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle for bread; they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other. Age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; shames and humiliations bring down their prides and their vanities. Those they love are taken from them and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. The burden of pain, care, misery, grows heavier year by year. At length ambition is dead; pride is dead; vanity is dead; longing for release is in their place. It comes at last - the only unpoisoned gift ever had for them - and they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence; where they achieved nothing; where they were a mistake and a failure and a foolishness; where they have left no sign that have existed - a world which will lament them a day and forget them forever. Then another myriad takes their place and copies all they did and goes along the same profitless road and vanishes as they vanished - to make room for another and another and a million other myriads to follow the same arid path through the same desert and accomplish what the first myriad and all the myriads that came after it accomplished - nothing!”
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“But it seems to be a law of human constitution that those that deserve shall not have and those that do not deserve shall get everything that is worth having.”
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