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 The strict instruction that many of these texts remain unpublished for 100 years meant that when they came out, he would be “dead, and unaware, and indifferent” and that he was therefore free to speak his “whole frank mind”.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

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.

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.

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!

Worth to wait 100 years for

Better and funnier in places than anything else he wrote. Pure indulgence. Can’t wait to read volume 2. Also excellent delivery.

100 years old but still fresh and current today

I am delightfully surprised at the humor and writing that is as fresh and readable (listenable) today as it was 100 years ago. Often a book that old is difficult to read and the phrasing is very different than books today. But the Autobiography of Mark Twain is so funny in many parts that you will laugh out loud (it is a rare book that can make you do that). It is not all humor. Many of the stories are tragic or dramatic. But they all have that flair and lightness that make them a true part of Mark Twain. The jumping around of topics is not disjointed but really makes the book enjoyable as you are not forced through the long narratives necessary to tie together good stories in a chronological autobiogrpahy. This is all of the good stuff without all of the filler. I can't wait for the next 2 volumes.

Exceptional Masterpiece

Very well read. I listened while walking and the miles flew by. You'll love it.

Twain's True Masterpiece

After reading the entirety of the Twain library, this is him at his highest peak.

I Love Mark Twain but....

The first several chapters are too much about General Ulysses S Grant, I grew tired of this part of the book

Too much dribble and drone

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Who starts out a book with two hours of credits and then the minutia of an author writing an autobiography. And then there was another two hours of the writing of President Grant's autobiography. Samuel Clements was truly a brilliant businessman and humorist, but he clearly thought a lot of himself that he comes across as having diarrhea of the brain and mouth. There were a few really good stories and some great quotes.But it droned on for so long that I did not realize until three hours later that I had gone into the next book on my iPod, Babbitt, performed by the same actor as was used in Mark Twain!

24 hours of this droning plus another three in another book accidentally! I kept waiting for the meat.

What do you think your next listen will be?

NOT the next volume in the Mark Twain autobiography. Truly disappointing.

What about Grover Gardner’s performance did you like?

He really could have been Mark Twain in his delivery. Well done.

Did Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1 inspire you to do anything?

Not listen to anymore Mark Twain autobiography.

Some books are better in paper

What did you like best about Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1? What did you like least?

I couldn't get past Chapter 2. For a book with so many footnotes and such, you really need to read this in paper. It was far to difficult to enjoy the main stream of the story with all of the interruptions for references.