Letters from the Earth

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Chris Hendrie

Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Twain was broke and had lost his first wife and daughter when he wrote this most personal and notorious book exploring the Bible and its scientific implications. Twain's challenging and contraversial letters were not published until 52 years after his death. Read with wonderful animation by actor Chris Hendrie.

Public Domain (P)2011 Chris Hendrie

Good Book

A world of information that only he (Mark Twain) could imagine. I will read his other writings. I was pleased.

Funny, but not for everyone

Mark Twain wrote the "letters from the Earth" as a series of essays when he was in a particularly bitter phase of his life, and that's reflected in the content therein. Satan is presented as a bemused, mocking character pointing out the follies of religion and humanity, which in some respects, acts as a voice for the author himself. Some of the themes therein are reflected in Mark Twain's other writings, albeit with less scathing acidity and more mirthful satire. Nonetheless, this is one of my favorite books for the very reason that it is acerbic and damning. Chris Hendrie's delivery is excellent and suitably charged, but there are noticeable areas of it that seem rushed or lack polish, which can be jarring for attentive listeners. Still a great book to listen to time and time again. Despite the title, "Letters From The Earth" also features excerpts from Twain's other writings, such as the Papers of the Adam Family. They are interesting in their own right, though they lack the written bombast of the original "Letters from the Earth" and at times can veer into farce or parody of life during Twain's time.

Gotta love Mark Twain!

Original compositions, unique point of view. His take on biblical stories is just common sense but explained as only he can.
Other stories you just can’t find anywhere else.
A man before his time.
Narration is done well.
Some incomplete observations that give insight into his way of thinking
Worth the listen

Worst recording ever. Poor editing.

The recording is horrible. You can tell the corrections were made often and with different equipment. Mid sentence there will be a random word that sounds totally different and it messes up the flow. This happens hundreds of times in the recording and is very irritating. The reader is wonderful but the recording quality completely ruins it. I had to grit my teeth to get through. The stories are wonderful too, but the poor recording ruins it all.