The Trouble Begins at 8

A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West

By: Sid Fleischman

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 2 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Mark Twain was born fully grown, with a cheap cigar clamped between his teeth. So begins Sid Fleischman's ramble-scramble biography of the great American author and wit, who started life in a Missouri village as a barefoot boy named Samuel Clemens.

Abandoning a career as a young steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, Sam took a bumpy stagecoach to the far West. In the gold and silver fields, he expected to get rich quick. Instead he got poor fast, digging in the wrong places. His stint as a sagebrush newspaperman led to a duel with pistols. Had he not survived, the world never would have heard of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn - or redheaded Mark Twain.

Samuel Clemens adopted his pen name in a hotel room in San Francisco and promptly made a jumping frog - and himself - famous. His celebrated novels followed at a leisurely pace, his quips at jet speed: "Don't let schooling interfere with your education," he wrote.

Here, in high style, is the story of a wisecracking adventurer who came of age in the untamed West - an ink-stained rebel who surprised himself by becoming the most famous American of his time.

©2008 Sid Fleischman (P)2012 AudioGO

Delightful Intro

This is a delightful, brief biography that was perfect to enjoy as a family ranging from an elementary reader only just learning of Twain to the grandfather who has always loved him (and those of us in the middle.) Fleischman manages to echo Twain's voice while maintaining his own and the reader is excellent.

A Brief Look at Samuel Clemens' Entire Life

If you don't know much about Samuel Clemens, this is worth the few hours you'll invest in starting to learn more about this singular and interesting man. It begins to construct an overview about his life, from birth and childhood through adulthood and a too-quick view of his married life and last years. I would like a more in-depth book, however, as much of his middle and later years were passed over too quickly.

Wonderful book, and narrator!

I had no clue that Twain was as humor as he was! Really reminds me of journalist Dorothy Killgowen (a great book is written about het). Thoroughly enjoyed this!!!