-
Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1
- The Complete and Authoritative Edition
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 24 hrs and 46 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $23.36
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Mark Twain - The Complete Novels
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Lee Howard
- Length: 58 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here you will find the complete novels of Mark Twain: 1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Starts at Chapter 1, 2. The Prince and the Pauper Starts at Chapter 37, 3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Starts at Chapter 70, 4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Starts at Chapter 113, 5. The American Claimant Starts at Chapter 158, 6. Tom Sawyer Abroad Starts at Chapter 184, 7. Pudd'nhead Wilson Starts at Chapter 197, 8. Tom Sawyer, Detective Starts at Chapter 219, 9. A Horse's Tale Starts at Chapter 230, 10. The Mysterious Stranger Starts at Chapter 245.
-
-
Content; GREAT! Performance.. .not so much😁
- By brian deis on 01-09-20
By: Mark Twain
-
The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These stories display Twain's place in American letters as a master writer in the authentic native idiom. He was exuberant and irreverent, but underlying the humor was a vigorous desire for social justice and a pervasive equalitarian attitude.
-
-
Great but incomplete
- By Tad Davis on 03-23-10
By: Mark Twain
-
Chapters from My Autobiography
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book is part memoir, part philosophical text, part study in human behavior, from one of America's greatest literary treasures. Narrated masterfully by Bronson Pinchot, this audiobook also includes Twain’s popular short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".
-
-
Fabulous Performance AND Read
- By Douglas on 10-24-10
By: Mark Twain
-
12 Books to Read Before You Die, Volume 1
- By: Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, and others
- Narrated by: Bruce Pirie, David Clarke, Phil Chenevert, and others
- Length: 89 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to 12 Books to Read Before You Die, Volume 1 and learn about these classic books: Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, and more....
-
-
All my favorites
- By Aymee on 06-27-23
By: Robert Louis Stevenson, and others
-
Pudd'nhead Wilson
- A Tale by Mark Twain
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Richard Henzel
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pudd'nhead Wilson, like many other Mark Twain books, was read aloud by the author to his wife and daughters, chapter by chapter, as it was being written.
-
-
great reader, great tale
- By Rose on 10-28-07
By: Mark Twain
-
Letters from the Earth
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Carl Reiner
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here we see Twain on a somewhat personal level. Penniless and having just lost his wife and one of his children, Twain turns to writing about God, Christianity, and the many curious natures of man. This collection was so controversial that his daughter prohibited its publication until 52 years after his death.
-
-
A must read for thinking people
- By Charles on 11-28-11
By: Mark Twain
-
Mark Twain - The Complete Novels
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Lee Howard
- Length: 58 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here you will find the complete novels of Mark Twain: 1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Starts at Chapter 1, 2. The Prince and the Pauper Starts at Chapter 37, 3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Starts at Chapter 70, 4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Starts at Chapter 113, 5. The American Claimant Starts at Chapter 158, 6. Tom Sawyer Abroad Starts at Chapter 184, 7. Pudd'nhead Wilson Starts at Chapter 197, 8. Tom Sawyer, Detective Starts at Chapter 219, 9. A Horse's Tale Starts at Chapter 230, 10. The Mysterious Stranger Starts at Chapter 245.
-
-
Content; GREAT! Performance.. .not so much😁
- By brian deis on 01-09-20
By: Mark Twain
-
The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These stories display Twain's place in American letters as a master writer in the authentic native idiom. He was exuberant and irreverent, but underlying the humor was a vigorous desire for social justice and a pervasive equalitarian attitude.
-
-
Great but incomplete
- By Tad Davis on 03-23-10
By: Mark Twain
-
Chapters from My Autobiography
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book is part memoir, part philosophical text, part study in human behavior, from one of America's greatest literary treasures. Narrated masterfully by Bronson Pinchot, this audiobook also includes Twain’s popular short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".
-
-
Fabulous Performance AND Read
- By Douglas on 10-24-10
By: Mark Twain
-
12 Books to Read Before You Die, Volume 1
- By: Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, and others
- Narrated by: Bruce Pirie, David Clarke, Phil Chenevert, and others
- Length: 89 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to 12 Books to Read Before You Die, Volume 1 and learn about these classic books: Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, and more....
-
-
All my favorites
- By Aymee on 06-27-23
By: Robert Louis Stevenson, and others
-
Pudd'nhead Wilson
- A Tale by Mark Twain
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Richard Henzel
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pudd'nhead Wilson, like many other Mark Twain books, was read aloud by the author to his wife and daughters, chapter by chapter, as it was being written.
-
-
great reader, great tale
- By Rose on 10-28-07
By: Mark Twain
-
Letters from the Earth
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Carl Reiner
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here we see Twain on a somewhat personal level. Penniless and having just lost his wife and one of his children, Twain turns to writing about God, Christianity, and the many curious natures of man. This collection was so controversial that his daughter prohibited its publication until 52 years after his death.
-
-
A must read for thinking people
- By Charles on 11-28-11
By: Mark Twain
-
Joan of Arc
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Michael Anthony
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Very few people know that Mark Twain wrote a major work on Joan of Arc. Still fewer know that he considered it not only his most important, but also his best work. He spent 12 years in research and many months in France doing archival work, and then made several attempts until he felt he finally had the story he wanted to tell.
-
-
Twain's best
- By Number Cruncher on 12-25-07
By: Mark Twain
-
The Gilded Age
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1873, The Gilded Age is both a biting satire and a revealing portrait of post-Civil War America - an age of corruption when crooked land speculators, ruthless bankers, and dishonest politicians voraciously took advantage of the nation's peacetime optimism. With his characteristic wit and perception, Mark Twain and his collaborator, Charles Dudley Warner, attack the greed, lust, and naiveté of their own time in a work that endures as a valuable social document and one of America's most important satirical novels.
-
-
Great Story, but Audio Quality Not Always Good
- By BethGA on 02-27-24
By: Mark Twain
-
Following the Equator
- A Journey around the World
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Michael Kevin
- Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bound on a lecture trip around the world, Mark Twain turns his keen satiric eye to foreign lands in Following the Equator. This vivid chronicle of a sea voyage on the Pacific Ocean displays Twain's eye for the unusual, his wide-ranging curiosity, and his delight in embellishing the facts. Following the Equator is an evocative and highly unique American portrait of 19-century travel and customs.
-
-
One of Mark Twain's least characteristic books
- By Arkent on 06-10-14
By: Mark Twain
-
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
- By: Benjamin Franklin
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Left unfinished at the time of his death, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin has endured as one of the most well-known and influential autobiographies ever written. From his early years in Boston and Philadelphia to the publication of his Poor Richard's Almanac to the American Revolution and beyond, Franklin's autobiography is a fascinating, personal exploration into the life of America's most interesting founding father.
-
-
Egregious omission of important passage.
- By Walking Man on 02-14-19
-
Life on the Mississippi
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: John Howels
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Life on the Mississippi" (1883) is a memoir by Mark Twain of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War, and also a travel book, recounting his trip along the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans many years after the War.
By: Mark Twain
-
The Prince and the Pauper
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They look alike, but they live in very different worlds. Tom Canty, impoverished and abused by his father, is fascinated with royalty. Edward Tudor, heir to the throne of England, is kind and generous but wants to run free and play in the river - just once. How insubstantial their differences truly are becomes clear when a chance encounter leads to an exchange of clothing - and roles. The pauper finds himself caught up in the pomp and folly of the royal court, and the prince wanders horror-stricken through the lower strata of English society.
-
-
Wonderful author, terrific narrator, splendid book
- By Rahni on 10-01-17
By: Mark Twain
-
Roughing It
- A Personal Narrative
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"If there is any life that is happier than the life we led on our timber ranch, it must be the sort of life which I have not read of in books or experienced in person," wrote Mark Twain, and now you can share in that experience. The beloved American humorist spent seven years on a "pleasure trip" through the untamed wilderness of Nevada. Twain intended to spend three months touring silver mines, but the lure of rough terrain and comfortable clothes proved irresistible - as will this vibrant travelogue.
-
-
Hilarious
- By Tad Davis on 04-21-08
By: Mark Twain
-
The Innocents Abroad
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 18 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 1867, Mark Twain set sail for Europe and the Holy Land. Twain recorded this adventurous trip and later turned it into The Innocents Abroad. This book became so popular overseas that it would propel him into an international star. The Innocents Abroad is Twain’s account of his thoughts of the Old World, including Paris, Venice, Pompeii, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem, as well as many other noteworthy cities. His disbelief and wonder are told with humor that endeared Twain to American audiences.
-
-
Big Mistake
- By Megg on 12-18-18
By: Mark Twain
-
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Jim Dale
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!
-
-
A great reading of the wrong book
- By P on 11-24-15
By: J.K. Rowling
-
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant
- By: Ulysses S. Grant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 29 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Among the autobiographies of great military figures, Ulysses S. Grant’s is certainly one of the finest, and it is arguably the most notable literary achievement of any American president: a lucid, compelling, and brutally honest chronicle of triumph and failure. From his frontier boyhood, to his heroics in battle, to the grinding poverty from which the Civil War ironically rescued him, these memoirs are a mesmerizing, deeply moving account of a brilliant man told with great courage.
-
-
Surprisingly funny and very informative.
- By Trent on 08-20-12
By: Ulysses S. Grant
-
On Writing
- A Memoir of the Craft
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Stephen King, Joe Hill, Owen King
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery.
-
-
Who needs a print edition when King reads King?
- By Cather on 11-18-05
By: Stephen King
-
The Sound and the Fury
- By: William Faulkner
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Sound and the Fury is the tragedy of the Compson family, featuring some of the most memorable characters in literature: beautiful, rebellious Caddy; the manchild Benjy; haunted, neurotic Quentin; Jason, the brutal cynic; and Dilsey, their black servant. Their lives fragmented and harrowed by history and legacy, the character’s voices and actions mesh to create what is arguably Faulkner’s masterpiece and one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.
-
-
Hang in
- By W.Denis on 07-11-05
By: William Faulkner
Publisher's summary
“I’ve struck it!” Mark Twain wrote in a 1904 letter to a friend. “And I will give it away - to you. You will never know how much enjoyment you have lost until you get to dictating your autobiography.”
Thus, after dozens of false starts and hundreds of pages, Twain embarked on his “Final (and Right) Plan” for telling the story of his life. His innovative notion - to “talk only about the thing which interests you for the moment” - meant that his thoughts could range freely. The strict instruction that many of these texts remain unpublished for 100 years meant that when they came out, he would be “dead, and unaware, and indifferent” and that he was therefore free to speak his “whole frank mind”.
The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Twain’s death. In celebration of this important milestone, here, for the first time, is Mark Twain’s uncensored autobiography, in its entirety, exactly as he left it. This major literary event offers the first of three volumes and presents Mark Twain’s authentic and unsuppressed voice, brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions, and speaking clearly from the grave, as he intended.
Edited by Harriet Elinor Smith and other editors of the Mark Twain Project.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) was born Samuel L. Clemens in the town of Florida, Missouri. One of the most popular and influential authors our nation has ever produced, his keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. He has been called not only the greatest humorist of his age but the father of American literature.
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
The Prince and the Pauper
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They look alike, but they live in very different worlds. Tom Canty, impoverished and abused by his father, is fascinated with royalty. Edward Tudor, heir to the throne of England, is kind and generous but wants to run free and play in the river - just once. How insubstantial their differences truly are becomes clear when a chance encounter leads to an exchange of clothing - and roles. The pauper finds himself caught up in the pomp and folly of the royal court, and the prince wanders horror-stricken through the lower strata of English society.
-
-
Wonderful author, terrific narrator, splendid book
- By Rahni on 10-01-17
By: Mark Twain
-
The Gilded Age
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1873, The Gilded Age is both a biting satire and a revealing portrait of post-Civil War America - an age of corruption when crooked land speculators, ruthless bankers, and dishonest politicians voraciously took advantage of the nation's peacetime optimism. With his characteristic wit and perception, Mark Twain and his collaborator, Charles Dudley Warner, attack the greed, lust, and naiveté of their own time in a work that endures as a valuable social document and one of America's most important satirical novels.
-
-
Great Story, but Audio Quality Not Always Good
- By BethGA on 02-27-24
By: Mark Twain
-
Dombey and Son
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 36 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this carefully crafted novel, Dickens reveals the complexity of London society in the enterprising 1840s as he takes the listener into the business firm and home of one of its most representative patriarchs, Paul Dombey.
-
-
Perfect pair
- By Philip on 03-25-08
By: Charles Dickens
-
Mark Twain
- A Life
- By: Ron Powers
- Narrated by: Ron Powers
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mark Twain founded the American voice. His works are a living national treasury: taught, quoted, and reprinted more than those of any writer except Shakespeare. His awestruck contemporaries saw him as the representative figure of his times, and his influence has deeply flavored the 20th and 21st centuries.
-
-
Buy the Book
- By W.Denis on 10-22-05
By: Ron Powers
-
Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House
- Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House
- By: Elizabeth Keckley
- Narrated by: Bobbie Frohman
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A former slave who became a successful dressmaker with her own business, became the dresser, dressmaker and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln during Abraham Lincoln's presidential adminstration. Behind the Scenes tells the story of the rise of Elizabeth Keckley from abused slave to independent business woman to friend of the First Lady of the land during the Civil War.
-
-
No Southern Accent
- By GMR on 08-13-14
-
World’s End
- The Lanny Budd Novels, Book 1
- By: Upton Sinclair
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lanning “Lanny” Budd spends his first 13 years in Europe, living at the center of his mother’s glamourous circle of friends on the French Riviera. In 1913, he enters a prestigious Swiss boarding school and befriends Rick, an English boy, and Kurt, a German. The three schoolmates are privileged, happy, and precocious - but their world is about to come to an abrupt and violent end. When the gathering storm clouds of war finally burst, raining chaos and death over the continent, Lanny must put the innocence of youth behind him.
-
-
didn't finish
- By Bird Miller on 05-08-22
By: Upton Sinclair
-
The Prince and the Pauper
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They look alike, but they live in very different worlds. Tom Canty, impoverished and abused by his father, is fascinated with royalty. Edward Tudor, heir to the throne of England, is kind and generous but wants to run free and play in the river - just once. How insubstantial their differences truly are becomes clear when a chance encounter leads to an exchange of clothing - and roles. The pauper finds himself caught up in the pomp and folly of the royal court, and the prince wanders horror-stricken through the lower strata of English society.
-
-
Wonderful author, terrific narrator, splendid book
- By Rahni on 10-01-17
By: Mark Twain
-
The Gilded Age
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1873, The Gilded Age is both a biting satire and a revealing portrait of post-Civil War America - an age of corruption when crooked land speculators, ruthless bankers, and dishonest politicians voraciously took advantage of the nation's peacetime optimism. With his characteristic wit and perception, Mark Twain and his collaborator, Charles Dudley Warner, attack the greed, lust, and naiveté of their own time in a work that endures as a valuable social document and one of America's most important satirical novels.
-
-
Great Story, but Audio Quality Not Always Good
- By BethGA on 02-27-24
By: Mark Twain
-
Dombey and Son
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 36 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this carefully crafted novel, Dickens reveals the complexity of London society in the enterprising 1840s as he takes the listener into the business firm and home of one of its most representative patriarchs, Paul Dombey.
-
-
Perfect pair
- By Philip on 03-25-08
By: Charles Dickens
-
Mark Twain
- A Life
- By: Ron Powers
- Narrated by: Ron Powers
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mark Twain founded the American voice. His works are a living national treasury: taught, quoted, and reprinted more than those of any writer except Shakespeare. His awestruck contemporaries saw him as the representative figure of his times, and his influence has deeply flavored the 20th and 21st centuries.
-
-
Buy the Book
- By W.Denis on 10-22-05
By: Ron Powers
-
Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House
- Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House
- By: Elizabeth Keckley
- Narrated by: Bobbie Frohman
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A former slave who became a successful dressmaker with her own business, became the dresser, dressmaker and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln during Abraham Lincoln's presidential adminstration. Behind the Scenes tells the story of the rise of Elizabeth Keckley from abused slave to independent business woman to friend of the First Lady of the land during the Civil War.
-
-
No Southern Accent
- By GMR on 08-13-14
-
World’s End
- The Lanny Budd Novels, Book 1
- By: Upton Sinclair
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lanning “Lanny” Budd spends his first 13 years in Europe, living at the center of his mother’s glamourous circle of friends on the French Riviera. In 1913, he enters a prestigious Swiss boarding school and befriends Rick, an English boy, and Kurt, a German. The three schoolmates are privileged, happy, and precocious - but their world is about to come to an abrupt and violent end. When the gathering storm clouds of war finally burst, raining chaos and death over the continent, Lanny must put the innocence of youth behind him.
-
-
didn't finish
- By Bird Miller on 05-08-22
By: Upton Sinclair
-
The Way of All Flesh
- By: Samuel Butler
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This brilliant satirical novel, tracing the life and loves of Ernest Pontifex, has continued in popularity since its original publication in 1903. Every generation finds in The Way of All Flesh a reaffirmation of youth's rightful struggle against the tyranny of harsh parents and its admirable will for freedom of personal expression.
-
-
classic satire- would make Jon Stewart laugh
- By Connie on 06-04-08
By: Samuel Butler
-
Mark Twain: Man in White
- The Grand Adventure of His Final Years
- By: Michael Shelden
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pulitzer Prize finalist Michael Shelden illuminates Mark Twain’s twilight years in this brilliant account of the legendary author’s life. Drawing heavily on Twain’s own letters and journals, Mark Twain: Man in White recounts both Twain’s private family experiences and his larger-than-life public image.
-
-
Fantastic book
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-10
By: Michael Shelden
-
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
- By: James Weldon Johnson
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Originally published anonymously in 1912, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man revealed as never before the color line dividing America, and the price it exacted on those souls who could traverse the two worlds. The book presents the fictional account of "an ex-colored man" - an African-American who could pass for white - as he attempts to choose which side of the line will better suit his life, and his psyche.
-
-
New favorite
- By Jess on 03-19-15
-
The Man Who Invented Christmas
- How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just before Christmas in 1843, a debt-ridden and dispirited Charles Dickens wrote a small book he hoped would keep his creditors at bay. His publisher turned it down, so Dickens used what little money he had to put out A Christmas Carol himself. He worried it might be the end of his career as a novelist. The book immediately caused a sensation. And it breathed new life into a holiday that had fallen into disfavor, undermined by lingering Puritanism and the cold modernity of the Industrial Revolution.
-
-
Beautifully Told!
- By JodyB on 12-01-17
By: Les Standiford
-
Grant's Final Victory
- Ulysses S. Grant's Heroic Last Year
- By: Charles Bracelen Flood
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shortly after losing all of his wealth in a terrible 1884 swindle, Ulysses S. Grant learned he had terminal throat and mouth cancer. Destitute and dying, Grant began to write his memoirs to save his family from permanent financial ruin. As Grant continued his work, suffering increasing pain, the American public became aware of this race between Grant's writing and his fatal illness. Twenty years after his respectful and magnanimous demeanor toward Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, people in the North and the South came to know Grant, now using his famous determination in this final effort.
-
-
Great story, average narration
- By Tad Davis on 04-25-12
-
Plain Tales from the Hills
- By: Rudyard Kipling
- Narrated by: Martin Jarvis
- Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An intimate, evocative, often funny, and always vital portrait of India at the peak of the British Raj. Written at the age of 22, they immediately show Kipling's natural and prodigious talent. Timeless, they can be listened to forever.
-
-
Gentle irony
- By Simon Bowler on 01-25-06
By: Rudyard Kipling
-
The Club
- Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1763, the painter Joshua Reynolds proposed to his friend Samuel Johnson that they invite a few friends to join them every Friday at the Turk's Head Tavern in London to dine, drink, and talk until midnight. Eventually, the group came to include among its members Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, and James Boswell. It was known simply as "the Club". In this captivating audiobook, Leo Damrosch brings alive a brilliant, competitive, and eccentric cast of characters.
-
-
Wonderful survey
- By Tad Davis on 05-10-19
By: Leo Damrosch
-
Fifth Business
- The Deptford Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Robertson Davies
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This first novel in The Deptford Trilogy introduces Ramsay, a man who returns from World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross but who is destined to be caught in a no man's land where memory, history, and myth collide. As we hear Ramsey tell his story, we begin to realize that, from childhood, he has influenced those around him in a perhaps mystical, perhaps pernicious way.
-
-
Been waiting for this
- By Vinity on 12-10-11
By: Robertson Davies
-
Daddy-Long-Legs
- By: Jean Webster
- Narrated by: Kate Forbes
- Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jerusha Abbott is the oldest orphan in the John Grier Home. Every day she helps scrub and dress the younger children - all 97 of them. Soon she will graduate from high school and be on her own. Where will she go, and how will she support herself? When an anonymous wealthy donor decides to send her to college, Jerusha can hardly believe her good fortune. All she must do in return is send him a letter once a month. With all the excitement of college life - classes, parties, new friends, and a special gentleman - Jerusha can hardly stop writing!
-
-
Delightful
- By Greg and Sara Masarik on 04-06-15
By: Jean Webster
-
Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 20 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathan Swift is best remembered today as the author of Gulliver’s Travels, the satiric fantasy that quickly became a classic and has remained in print for nearly three centuries. Yet Swift also wrote many other influential works, was a major political and religious figure in his time, and became a national hero, beloved for his fierce protest against English exploitation of his native Ireland. What is really known today about the enigmatic man behind these accomplishments? Can the facts of his life be separated from the fictions?
-
-
JOHNATHAN SWIFT AND POWER OF THE PEN
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 09-30-14
By: Leo Damrosch
-
The Greater Journey
- Americans in Paris
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work.
-
-
McCullough takes it to the next level
- By gregory m loyd on 07-12-11
By: David McCullough
-
John Adams
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 29 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
McCullough's John Adams has the sweep and vitality of a great novel. This is history on a grand scale, an audiobook about politics, war, and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, it is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
-
-
An outstanding biography
- By Davis on 07-10-06
By: David McCullough
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 2
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 26 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mark Twain's complete, uncensored Autobiography was an instant best seller when the first volume was published in 2010, on the centennial of the author's death, as he requested. Published to rave reviews, the Autobiography was hailed as the capstone of Twain's career. It captures his authentic and unsuppressed voice, speaking clearly from the grave and brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions. The eagerly awaited second volume delves deeper into Twain's life, uncovering the many roles he played in his private and public worlds.
-
-
The way it should be done.
- By Ian on 10-16-13
By: Mark Twain
-
Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 3
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 24 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the first volume of Mark Twain's uncensored autobiography was published in 2010, it was hailed as an essential addition to the shelf of his works and a crucial document for our understanding of the great humorist's life and times. This third and final volume crowns and completes his life's work. Like its companion volumes, it chronicles Twain's inner and outer life through a series of daily dictations that go wherever his fancy leads.
-
-
Worth waiting for
- By Tad Davis on 12-09-15
By: Mark Twain
-
Mark Twain
- A Life
- By: Ron Powers
- Narrated by: Ron Powers
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mark Twain founded the American voice. His works are a living national treasury: taught, quoted, and reprinted more than those of any writer except Shakespeare. His awestruck contemporaries saw him as the representative figure of his times, and his influence has deeply flavored the 20th and 21st centuries.
-
-
Buy the Book
- By W.Denis on 10-22-05
By: Ron Powers
-
The Autobiography of Mark Twain
- By: Mark Twain, Edited by Charles Neider - editor
- Narrated by: Michael Anthony
- Length: 20 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is one of the great autobiographies of the English language - exuberant, wonderfully contemporary in spirit, 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.
-
-
The story of a man centuries ahead of his time.
- By Ebor on 02-18-16
By: Mark Twain, and others
-
Mark Twain - The Complete Novels
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Lee Howard
- Length: 58 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here you will find the complete novels of Mark Twain: 1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Starts at Chapter 1, 2. The Prince and the Pauper Starts at Chapter 37, 3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Starts at Chapter 70, 4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Starts at Chapter 113, 5. The American Claimant Starts at Chapter 158, 6. Tom Sawyer Abroad Starts at Chapter 184, 7. Pudd'nhead Wilson Starts at Chapter 197, 8. Tom Sawyer, Detective Starts at Chapter 219, 9. A Horse's Tale Starts at Chapter 230, 10. The Mysterious Stranger Starts at Chapter 245.
-
-
Content; GREAT! Performance.. .not so much😁
- By brian deis on 01-09-20
By: Mark Twain
-
Mark Twain
- By: Geoffrey C. Ward, Dayton Duncan, Ken Burns
- Narrated by: Bill Meisle
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet the man behind the biggest persona either side of the Mississippi, in this audio companion to the Ken Burns film of the same name. Burns, Geoffrey Ward, and Dayton Duncan pull together a treasure trove of information on the man formerly known as Samuel Clemens, using published and unpublished sources. Also, browse all Mark Twain titles.
-
-
Re read
- By G. Robert on 01-29-03
By: Geoffrey C. Ward, and others
-
Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 2
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 26 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mark Twain's complete, uncensored Autobiography was an instant best seller when the first volume was published in 2010, on the centennial of the author's death, as he requested. Published to rave reviews, the Autobiography was hailed as the capstone of Twain's career. It captures his authentic and unsuppressed voice, speaking clearly from the grave and brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions. The eagerly awaited second volume delves deeper into Twain's life, uncovering the many roles he played in his private and public worlds.
-
-
The way it should be done.
- By Ian on 10-16-13
By: Mark Twain
-
Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 3
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 24 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the first volume of Mark Twain's uncensored autobiography was published in 2010, it was hailed as an essential addition to the shelf of his works and a crucial document for our understanding of the great humorist's life and times. This third and final volume crowns and completes his life's work. Like its companion volumes, it chronicles Twain's inner and outer life through a series of daily dictations that go wherever his fancy leads.
-
-
Worth waiting for
- By Tad Davis on 12-09-15
By: Mark Twain
-
Mark Twain
- A Life
- By: Ron Powers
- Narrated by: Ron Powers
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mark Twain founded the American voice. His works are a living national treasury: taught, quoted, and reprinted more than those of any writer except Shakespeare. His awestruck contemporaries saw him as the representative figure of his times, and his influence has deeply flavored the 20th and 21st centuries.
-
-
Buy the Book
- By W.Denis on 10-22-05
By: Ron Powers
-
The Autobiography of Mark Twain
- By: Mark Twain, Edited by Charles Neider - editor
- Narrated by: Michael Anthony
- Length: 20 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is one of the great autobiographies of the English language - exuberant, wonderfully contemporary in spirit, 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.
-
-
The story of a man centuries ahead of his time.
- By Ebor on 02-18-16
By: Mark Twain, and others
-
Mark Twain - The Complete Novels
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Lee Howard
- Length: 58 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here you will find the complete novels of Mark Twain: 1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Starts at Chapter 1, 2. The Prince and the Pauper Starts at Chapter 37, 3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Starts at Chapter 70, 4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Starts at Chapter 113, 5. The American Claimant Starts at Chapter 158, 6. Tom Sawyer Abroad Starts at Chapter 184, 7. Pudd'nhead Wilson Starts at Chapter 197, 8. Tom Sawyer, Detective Starts at Chapter 219, 9. A Horse's Tale Starts at Chapter 230, 10. The Mysterious Stranger Starts at Chapter 245.
-
-
Content; GREAT! Performance.. .not so much😁
- By brian deis on 01-09-20
By: Mark Twain
-
Mark Twain
- By: Geoffrey C. Ward, Dayton Duncan, Ken Burns
- Narrated by: Bill Meisle
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet the man behind the biggest persona either side of the Mississippi, in this audio companion to the Ken Burns film of the same name. Burns, Geoffrey Ward, and Dayton Duncan pull together a treasure trove of information on the man formerly known as Samuel Clemens, using published and unpublished sources. Also, browse all Mark Twain titles.
-
-
Re read
- By G. Robert on 01-29-03
By: Geoffrey C. Ward, and others
-
Mark Twain Collection
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Jim D Johnston
- Length: 28 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here are three of the most celebrated works of Mark Twain collected in a single volume. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court bring you an interesting array of exciting characters and entertaining adventures that have been precious to readers for years.
-
-
Twain is great, but...
- By C. Wood on 04-13-19
By: Mark Twain
-
The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These stories display Twain's place in American letters as a master writer in the authentic native idiom. He was exuberant and irreverent, but underlying the humor was a vigorous desire for social justice and a pervasive equalitarian attitude.
-
-
Great but incomplete
- By Tad Davis on 03-23-10
By: Mark Twain
-
Mark Twain: Man in White
- The Grand Adventure of His Final Years
- By: Michael Shelden
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pulitzer Prize finalist Michael Shelden illuminates Mark Twain’s twilight years in this brilliant account of the legendary author’s life. Drawing heavily on Twain’s own letters and journals, Mark Twain: Man in White recounts both Twain’s private family experiences and his larger-than-life public image.
-
-
Fantastic book
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-10
By: Michael Shelden
-
The Mark Twain Complete Collection
- All 12 Novels; The Complete Short Stories; Travel Writing; Essays; and Chapters from My Autobiography
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Nathan Osgood, Ian Porter, Kenneth Jay, and others
- Length: 175 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook, read by Audie award-winning narrators, includes unabridged recordings of all Mark Twains's greatest works: 12 novels; over 120 of his beloved short stories; Chapters From My Autobiography; 5 pieces of short non-fiction; and 6 pieces of his groundbreaking, wide-ranging travel writing.
By: Mark Twain
-
Mark Twain's Helpful Hints for Good Living
- A Handbook for the Damned Human Race
- By: Lin Salamo - editor, Victor Fischer - editor, Michael B. Frank - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Irreverent, charming, and eminently quotable, this handbook - an eccentric etiquette guide for the human race - contains 69 aphorisms, anecdotes, whimsical suggestions, maxims, and cautionary tales from Mark Twain’s private and published writings. It dispenses advice and reflections on family life and public manners; opinions on topics such as dress, health, food, and childrearing and safety; and more specialized tips, such as those for dealing with annoying salesmen and burglars.
-
-
Mark Twain is Hilarious!
- By tracy on 09-23-13
By: Lin Salamo - editor, and others
-
Roughing It
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1861, young Mark Twain found himself adrift as a tenderfoot in the Wild West. Roughing It is a hilarious record of his travels over a six-year period that comes to life with his inimitable mixture of reporting, social satire, and rollicking tall tales. Twain reflects on his scuffling years mining silver in Nevada, working at a Virginia City newspaper, being downandout in San Francisco, reporting for a newspaper from Hawaii, and more.
-
-
The wild humorist of the West
- By Tad Davis on 01-02-12
By: Mark Twain
-
Life on the Mississippi [Blackstone]
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Mississippi River, known as “America’s River” and Mark Twain are practically synonymous in American culture. The popularity of Twain’s steamboat and steamboat pilot on the ever-changing Mississippi has endured for over a century. A brilliant amalgam of remembrance and reportage, by turns satiric, celebratory, nostalgic, and melancholy, Life on the Mississippi evokes the great river that Mark Twain knew as a boy and young man and the one he revisited as a mature and successful author.
-
-
Whispersync deal
- By Ben on 09-11-14
By: Mark Twain
-
The Innocents Abroad
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: John Greenman
- Length: 19 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Embark on a captivating journey with Mark Twain in The Innocents Abroad, an audiobook that chronicles the author's travel adventures through Europe and the Holy Land. Twain's sharp wit and keen observations provide a humorous and insightful commentary on the places he visits, the people he encounters, and the cultural clashes he witnesses. This audiobook is a delightful blend of travelogue, satire, and social commentary, offering a unique perspective on the 19th-century world and the human condition.
By: Mark Twain
-
Letters from the Earth
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Carl Reiner
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here we see Twain on a somewhat personal level. Penniless and having just lost his wife and one of his children, Twain turns to writing about God, Christianity, and the many curious natures of man. This collection was so controversial that his daughter prohibited its publication until 52 years after his death.
-
-
A must read for thinking people
- By Charles on 11-28-11
By: Mark Twain
-
The Innocents Abroad
- Or, The New Pilgrim’s Progress
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 1867, Mark Twain set out for Europe and the Holy Land on the paddle steamer Quaker City. His enduring, no-nonsense guide for the first-time traveler also served as an antidote to the insufferably romantic travel books of the period.
-
-
Twain's Hidden Gem
- By Cynthia Franks on 05-08-12
By: Mark Twain
-
Chapters from My Autobiography
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book is part memoir, part philosophical text, part study in human behavior, from one of America's greatest literary treasures. Narrated masterfully by Bronson Pinchot, this audiobook also includes Twain’s popular short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".
-
-
Fabulous Performance AND Read
- By Douglas on 10-24-10
By: Mark Twain
-
What Is Man?
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Carl Reiner
- Length: 3 hrs
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What Is Man? appears in the form of a Socratic dialogue between a romantic young idealist and an elderly cynic, who debate issues of mankind, such as whether man is free to act or is more of a machine, whether personal merit is meaningless given how the environment shapes us, and whether man truly has impulses other than to pursue pleasure and avoid pain.
-
-
I'm 21, this shit was crazy. But I loved it.
- By Trina on 10-16-17
By: Mark Twain
What listeners say about Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- SHolland10
- 01-30-11
Not what I was expecting...
As an English teacher, I like to get Audible books that are entertaining because I am reading, researching, and grading all the time during the school year. I have loved Twain all my life and have even gone to Hannibal to participate in workshops - which were awesome. When I heard the autobiography was being released, I was thrilled. When I started listening to all the acknowledgements, I thought, "How interesting to know who the people and institutions are who contributed to this great work." Then when it began to sound more like an autobiography of those who edited and sweated and argued and agreed over the many processes that go into the manuscript, I thought, "This is not about Twain but about those who put the book together. So it should be called the AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF CONTRIBUTORS TO TWAIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY." I cannot pick up a book or an audio book and not give it fair chance, though, so I trudged on. The first fifteen chapters or so are not what I believe Twain had envisioned for his autobiography. I believe that Twain Scholars would love this book and use bits and pieces in university level classes, but I think Twain wanted it to be published without all the credits to the additional contributors. I have finally reached parts that are uninterruped chapters of Twain, but then between the chapters there are always "discussions" or "commentaries" on what went into putting the book together. In a way, I feel tricked by the way this "autobiography" has been marketed because it is not PURE Twain autobiography. It is too "heavy" for continued interest. I am hoping it "lightens up" with the text Twain intended. I may have to put it away until summer but if I had known that it was going to be a compilation of compilations through the decades of those who contributed, I would not have gotten it and wish I had my credit back. I give it three stars because I know scholars would love it and the Twain sections are satiric with some serious sides of Twain.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
144 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Gura
- 11-05-10
Awe and Goosebumps
At the time I purchased this edition there was only one review on this site and it criticized the book for "endless dribble on the making of autobiography...very boring." Needless to say I was a bit concerned, but I have waited so long for this work to be released I went ahead and ordered.
This autobiography is thrilling for people, like me, who are devoted to the works of Samuel Clemens. This is the first volume of his autobiography which Clemens instructed not be published until one hundred years after his death.
Yes -- there are long passages of scholarly notes, what the previous reviewer called "endless dribble." This is an important work of history, requiring diverse sets of notes, letters and dictations made by Clemens over many years to be collected and woven together into one work. Clemens undertook to write an autobiography and then had several changes of mind and heart over the years, leaving for posterity an unfinished autobiography and diverse manuscripts needing to be pieced together. This volume has detailed notes on context, primary references and other information important to understanding how the various manuscripts are pieced together. That is why I think the contents ("List of Manuscripts and Dictations") is especially useful for following the audio version, as it allows listeners to have a sense of format, and to skip ahead as needed without being lost in citiations.
The chapters that contain Clemen's writing are pure Mark Twain. Here are candid notes about his life, his successes, his failures; candid observations of people he knew -- such as Ulysses S. Grant. I am listening with awe, and with goosebumps. Here is the autobiography that we had to wait a hundred years to read. I'm looking forward to the next volume (understatement).
The narrator is a good match for this work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
87 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tad Davis
- 11-17-10
Part diary, part autobiography
Grover Gardner is one of the two or three best narrators of Twain, and he does an outstanding job on this (sometimes) difficult material. The difficulty isn't because of Twain's writing, or in this case speaking -- he dictated most of this material, and you can "hear" him sometimes backing up and correcting himself. Twain's writing is one of the wonders of the natural world, and he's the only writer who can make me laugh out loud on the subway.
The difficulty in this case is the background of the project and Twain's design for an autobiography. The audiobook is basically everything in the printed volume except the footnotes. It includes the extensive introduction (how the editors identified the order of the various typescripts), several hours of "false starts" (autobiographical material Twain published elsewhere before settling on this plan), and extensive captions for each section. Gardner's clear and resonant voice keeps everything in perspective, but there's a lot to digest. If you're a Twain fan, you'll be grateful. If you're not, this book wouldn't be your best introduction. It probably helps to have a good grasp of the essentials of Twain's life before going into this one.
It's chronological -- not according to Twain's life, but according to the order of dictation. Twain wanted to combine aspects of diary and autobiography into a single scheme, one that left him the ability to jump from one subject to another as the spirit moved him. And it moved him quite a bit. A given day's dictation could cover six or seven different topics, each with Twain's eye for the illuminating detail and the perfect self-deprecating turn of phrase.
For diehards like me, it's a feast, a cornucopia, an incredible act of generosity on the part of editors, publishers, and reader. But it does require careful listening.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
64 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Gregory
- 12-21-10
Endless and lengthy footnotes
Much of the content isn't Twain -- the book is interrupted with endless extended footnotes and chapter introductions by the editors.
The opening "acknowledgments" section itself goes on forever.
Be warned.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
42 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Ronald
- 06-04-11
This literature is comtaminated
Some works of literature are best read aloud. This is true of most of Mark Twain's writing. Unfortunately this is not true of most scholarly work. I appreciate the amount of scholarly research that was necessary to assemble the Autobiography of Mark Twain. That doesn't mean I want to listen to it. The narrator commences this work with an introduction that contains detailed descriptions of the various hand written and typed manuscripts and the multiple edit marks. After an hour of this tedium, we are finally treated to some of Mark Twain's writings. This might have been tolerable if they had quit there, but each section of each chapter is introduced with more details about how it was selected and assembled. When I go to a concert, I want to hear music. I know there are musicologists who have studied the intimate details of the compositions. There is great skill that goes into this study, but scholarship is not music. Neither is it literature. I have some advice for editors who insert their scholarship into fine literature. Words written about literature are not literature. There are some people who care about these details, but they are exceedingly few in number. This is what post notes are for. If you ever again feel compelled to contaminate a work of literature with your own composition, go take a nap. Bye and Bye, the compulsion will pass. If it doesn't, find another line of work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
31 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cherisse Carey
- 11-19-10
I would have loved to have known him!
To have his words put down exactly as he spoke them is awesome. I love the way he thinks and speaks. An honor to know him this way at least.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Polyhymnia
- 02-05-11
If only it was just the writing of Twain
The editors??? long and tedious explanation of the autobiographical material takes up most of the first part of this three-part audiobook. I believe that Mark Twain would have had a good laugh at the pomposity of the editors and their footnotes; unfortunately I found it insufferably boring and a very poor use of audio. If I had been reading a print version I would have skimmed or skipped this beginning all together.
I wanted to read Twain???s writing not what all those other folks think I should get out of reading it. A very brief "We got this stuff from lots of different places and times and some of it's literal and some of it isn't. Enjoy," would have been fine with me. Twain does an excellent job of explaining himself.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Nili
- 03-21-11
TMI even for Twain fans!
I totally agree with those other reviewers who mention 'endless dribble' or , as Susan of Ozark, MO states: this work should be billed as an autobiography of the contributers to the autobiography . . . WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION about the editing, compiling... It's difficult enough that Twain/Clemens chose to include endless detail in his dictations. Add to that the endless detail about "The Making of . . . " and you have a boring few hours interspersed with periodic character assassinations (mostly reserved for Twain's publisher and literary peers/competitors) and some all-too-brief, humorous glimpses of the Twain we love. Now we know why autobiographies should be edited!!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Margaret
- 12-08-10
I felt as if I was sitting with Twain!
I live in Elmira, NY (home of Livvy, and the place where Twain was buried). Even before I moved here I was fascinated by Twain's writing and my interest has only increased over the years. I vaguely knew that he had left some writings for future publication and I was thrilled when I saw that Audible had it. Have to admit that the foreword was a bit discouraging, but once past that it just got better and better, until by the end I truly felt that I was having tea with Samuel Clemens and listening to his wonderful stories. I could almost smell the cigar smoke!
Great job -- can't wait for the next volume!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Erik Greathouse
- 03-24-11
I'm sure it'll be great
I'm sure this will be great, eventually, but the first 4 chapters are just background, historical notes and other stuff. I think this is one of those books that is much better appreciated on the printed page. I'll know better in another 3 or 4 chapters, I guess.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful