Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1

The Complete and Authoritative Edition

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 24 hrs and 46 mins

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 The strict instruction that many of these texts remain unpublished for 100 years meant that when they came out, he would be “dead, and unaware, and indifferent” and that he was therefore free to speak his “whole frank mind”.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.

©2010 2001 by the Mark Twain Foundation. All Rights Reserved. Transcription, reconstruction, and creation of the texts, introduction, notes, and appendixes copyright 2010 by the Regents of the University of California (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“With the uncensored Twain finally here, we’re the furthest thing from indifferent.” ( Time magazine)

“Twain’s memoirs are a pointillist masterpiece from which his vision of America - half paradise, half swindle - emerges with indelible force.” ( Publishers Weekly)

“Mark Twain, always so blithely ahead of his time, has just outdone himself: he’s brought us an autobiography from beyond the grave.” (Ron Powers, author of Mark Twain: A Life)

Wonderful World of Mark Twain

The reader did a wonderful job transporting me into the mind of such a fabulous philosopher of his time. Mark Twain had wisdom that ran deep in his written word.

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.

Loved it.

So many stories. Such a rich life. An iconic figure of American history brought to life through this reading. This volume ended with reading of a letter addressed to Mr. Clemens from Hellen Keller. Talk about a cliffhanger!

Grover Gardner reading a Mark Twain biography!

Don't be late for work, after staying up all night listening to this! Mark Twain!

Good story, good reader.

From the multiple starts and stops at attempting an autobiography, Samuel Clemmens finds organization by using his daughter's biography, of him, as well as other methods as a rough outline to tell his tale. He is a good storyteller and Grover Gardner did a superb job. I did skip most of the first three chapters though as it was notes about how the autobiography was put together from so much separate material.

outstanding

Just an absolute work of art. a masterpiece and well read . a must for any historical context.

loved it

the humor and wit of Mark Twain is engaging and unmatchable. listened to it twice:)

A breath of fresh air

It is so rare to find an author that isn't bought and sold these days. Twain had an amazing ability to perfectly ration his storytelling with just the right amount of humor to keep it interesting. I feel as if Twain's insights have been transmitted subconsciously to the modern era. Not many writers would have the perception to realize that their works would still be valued by future generations. His insight into religion and politics is absolutely priceless. Grover Gardner is one of the best in the business.

More Like a Visit with Mark Twain than a Biography

After patiently waiting for the narrator to thank hundreds of patrons who made this listen possible, I finally got to hear the scholars who put the work together provide me with intriguing advanced organizers to help me navigate the next ten hours with Mr. Twain. When the book finally shifted into first person, I was treated to a delightful visit with a man like that uncle or grandfather that many were blessed with as children who would ramble through stories of his life both funny and poignant that you begged to hear over and over. His microscopic examination of the "Gilded Age" is a treasure. His discussion of his friendship and help to General Grant offered great insights into that interesting man. The listen never leaves the listener more than of few moments without another taste of Mark Twain's genius humor.

Excellent

I listened to all 3 volumes, so I am only going to post a review here on the first. Overall, excellent as you would expect given the author. But, word of caution - it takes about 1/3 of the first volume to get going. Twain wrote his autobiography in fits and starts and the editors choose to start volume one with a portion he wrote as kind of a stand alone. Once you get past that, most of the material was written on a consistent basis, so the flow is much better. Recommend