Chapters from My Autobiography

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Samuel Langhorne Clemens – who wrote under the pseudonym Mark Twain - was born in Florida, Missouri, in 1835. He spent his childhood in the Mississippi River town of Hannibal, Missouri, leaving home in 1853. His brief career as a riverboat pilot was ended by the Civil War, in which he served as a Confederate irregular. He then traveled to Nevada to strike it rich, and when that plan failed went on to achieve renown as a deft humorist, masterful satirist, great novelist and memorable travel writer, using the name “Mark Twain” – a river pilot’s measurement of depth. Beloved by readers around the world, Clemens died in 1910. Collected here is a wonderful selection of anecdotes from Mark Twain's life, as told with candor by the great man himself. 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", as well as a printable eBook in PDF format.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

Public Domain (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Loved it!

I enjoyed this book so much, it made me realize I must buy all 3 full volumes of Mark Twains autobiography.
But alas…
I think Bronson Pinchot’s narration has spoiled my enjoyment of any future auto book that he does not recite. Pure genius.

Mark Twain

Bronson did a commendable job.

A prior book he read for Matt Goldman he badly mispronounced cities in MN.

He did his homework on this book and did well.

If you like Mark Twain, this book is for you

This is a great book to be able to see what's behind the curtain in the life of Mark Twain. The highs and lows, his childhood through that of his children and more. You can get an inside look at his greatest victories and his deepest heartbreaks.

Narrator wasn't for me

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Because this title was recommended by a friend, I was looking forward to it. I made the fatal mistake of not listening to the sample of the recording before purchasing, however. The narrator's accent didn't ring true to me, and grated after only a short while. Did not get very far in the book before giving up.

Horrible voice

Might be a perfect stranger but he is a perfect nightmare in reading this book

Boring and Slow

I really like to exchange this. I just can't listen to really boring things about Mark Twain's real life whining.

Just not interesting

I totally agree with Garrison Keillor in his NY Times Book Review (12/19/10) -- it's a "dreary meander of a memoir." I wonder how many people who put this book so high on the bestseller list actually read more than a few chapters....

Chapters from My Autobiography.

This was not at all what I had expected, especially from Mark Twain. If you want to take a chance it's up to you. It was a complete surprise to me. I would not recommend this Book.

Waste of time and money!

I was extremely disappointed. This autobiography is prefaced by the author stating that it might come off as directionless, but that it's done on purpose. Well, it might be on purpose but it doesn't help the sense that it's disarming to the reader and give them that oh i don't know, directionless feeling. The author also warns early on that the anecdotes aren't always going to be about him and aren't always going to hit the high points of his life. They are sometimes going to be about small events with little known persons of disinterest. And he's right about that too. But again, the result is fairly typical in that the reader becomes...wait for it...disinterested.

8 Chapters into the book and I heard more stories about his daughter's version of his biography than his...spelling errors and all...i'm sure his young daughter was extremely important to him and his stories about her are cute and endearing to a point. However, between the chaotic aimlessness of the anecdotes and their "small" subject matter, I often got the feeling that i get when i find myself trapped talking to an elderly stranger, who just goes on and on about his life for no apparent reason. i'm sure those stories are interesting to him and those who actually know some of the persons in those stories. But not me.

After about 2.5 hours i just wanted to come up with some lame excuse so i could walk away from the kindly elderly man and get back to my day. Then i realized i could just hit the stop button and download something else. Unfinished book.

I think i'll stick away from AUTObiographies from now on.