Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1: The Complete and Authoritative Edition
By Mark Twain
Edited by Harriet Elinor Smith and the editors of the Mark Twain Project
Read by Grover Gardner
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1 Format: Digital Download
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“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 The strict instruction that many of these texts remain unpublished for one hundred years meant that when they came out, he would be “dead, and unaware, and indifferent,” and that he was therefore free to speak his “whole frank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 marked the one hundredth 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.
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Summary
Summary
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
A New York Times bestseller
A USA Today bestseller
A 2010 Barnes & Noble Best Book
One of SoundCommentary.com’s The Best of the Best
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year
“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 The strict instruction that many of these texts remain unpublished for one hundred years meant that when they came out, he would be “dead, and unaware, and indifferent,” and that he was therefore free to speak his “whole frank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 marked the one hundredth 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.
Editorial Reviews
Editorial Reviews
Reviews
Reviews
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Not for me.
- This book was not what I expected. I didn't like it. It was too much facts and not story.
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Hardcore fans will get the most enjoyment from this
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What I learned from listening to the Autobiography of Mark Twain is that he had many failed and abandoned attempts to write his autobiography. All of these versions are presented here so there is a lot of overlap and repeated sections - not verbatim but many re-writes of the same stories.
What he does write about is, rather unsurprisingly, interesting and engaging but I was hoping he'd go into his bankruptcy issues a little deeper.
I probably will go back to this occasionally, but I can't imagine I'd listen to the whole 25 hours over and over. An edited version would have been *immense*
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A wonderful insight to a brilliant man!
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Every word wonderfully written or dictated by Samuel Clemens. It doesn't read like a story, beginning, conflict, struggle, resolution,but rather bounces around his life at HIS leisure.
Listening to this book, is like sitting on a porch in the summer, drinking sweet-tea and listening to a relative recount tales of loved ones gone but not forgotten. Mr. Gardner does an excellent job narrating, savoring every nuance of the memory written and telling it with feeling and affection. If you listen to one book all year, this is the one you want.
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Humorous
- “The side-excursions are the life of our life-voyage, and should be, also, of its history.” I listened to this while driving to Reno, NV. It made the 7 hr. drive fly by. If you are a fan of Twain's novels you should listen to this one!
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Best autobiography of the year
- This was a true insight into the heart and mind of Mark Twain. Set as a collection of books, short stories, and experiences by Twain, you are given a very near complete accord of the author, the husband, the friend, and of the man that he was. I was surprised to find out he was much more than an author of children's books. Through the swears, jokes, nitpicking and intellectual challenges of his life, I must have spent the whole book laughing and smiling.
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Into the Mind of the Greatest American Writer...
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I just want to start out by saying that this is not a typical autobiography as in it does not flow chronologically like most. That being said, Mark Twain would be proud of this work.
This is a great autobiography of the greatest American writer ever. It takes you quickly into his world, thoughts, loves, and feelings. It is filled with humor and some sadness as well.
Grover Gardner does an excellent job at bringing Mark Twain to life for the listener. I couldn't imagine any other narrator being able to do as well of a job.
Author
Author Bio: Mark Twain
Mark Twain (1835–1910) was born Samuel L. Clemens in the town of Florida, Missouri. He is one of the most popular and influential authors our nation has ever produced, and 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 also the father of American literature.
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Details
Details
| Available Formats : | Digital Download |
| Category: | Nonfiction/Biography & Autobiography |
| Runtime: | 24.77 |
| Audience: | Adult |
| Language: | English |
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