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Mark Twain's Own Autobiography: The Chapters from the North American Review
Mark Twain’s Own Autobiography
stands as the last of Twain’s great yarns. Here he tells his story in his own way, freely expressing his joys and sorrows, his affections and hatreds, his rages and reverence—ending, as always, tongue-in-cheek: “Now, then, that is the tale. Some of it is true.”
More than the story of a literary career, this memoir is anchored in the writer’s ...more
More than the story of a literary career, this memoir is anchored in the writer’s ...more
Paperback
,
Second Edition
,
392 pages
Published
February 25th 2010
by University of Wisconsin Press
(first published 1907)
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An absolutely delightful trip into Mark Twain's life that gives insight to his "fictional" characters and exploits, many of whom were based on people Mark Twain knew and things that actually happened. I particularly enjoyed the excerpts from Susie's descriptions of her father written when she was fourteen. By the end of the book, one feels as if he/she knows the man somehow. There's a feeling of shared intimacy. Also Twain casually mentions many literary names of the time. One forgets how many w
...more
To read Mark Twain's autobiography is to understand Mark Twain. To understand Twain is to understand ourselves. As Twain wrote in the biography, "I am the entire human race compacted together."
Enlightening, engrossing, and often laugh-out-loud funny, this book takes root in your mind and grows with each page turn.
Enlightening, engrossing, and often laugh-out-loud funny, this book takes root in your mind and grows with each page turn.
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 even
...more
Oct 04, 2012
Isabell
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
20th-century
,
american-lit
,
audiobook
,
librivox
,
cover-grey
,
ed-english
,
librivox-solo
,
non-fiction
,
oldies
,
public-domain
,
set-19th-century
,
set-usa
,
unabridged
,
listened
Gradually I seem to be developing a liking for (auto)biographies/memoirs. Previously I always avoided those because I feared that they would bore me too easily. With Chapters from My Autobiography by Mark Twain, I’ve read four autobiographies in the recent past. This book and John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley certainly convinced me how much fun autobiographies can be.
Mark Twain has a way of presenting the facts in a funny way. I especially liked how he frequently cited from his daughter Susi ...more
Mark Twain has a way of presenting the facts in a funny way. I especially liked how he frequently cited from his daughter Susi ...more
Within the first few minutes of this audiobook, one knows exactly why Mark Twain was such a success as an author and humorist. His wit and satire abound with each story, and yet he maintains a level of humility that is just as charming as it is surprising. The anecdotes and stories presented by Twain in this collection are at times heartbreaking, touching, difficult, and, as one would expect, hilarious. Twain does not shy away from highlighting his faults and foibles and presents them with an al
...more
I listened to this book, as performed by Bronson Pinchot. It was phenomenal. I have rarely cried and laughed so much listening to a book. His recollections of his daughter are so sweet, and his love for his wife so deep, and that really came through in this collection of stories. I love his self-deprecating humor as demonstrated by his encounters with the then King of Germany. I love how human he comes across.
He was an amazing tallent. He painted scenes with amazing ease and placed you right in ...more
He was an amazing tallent. He painted scenes with amazing ease and placed you right in ...more
Overall, very enjoyable, but maybe a little heavy on stories about billiards, bowling, and how much Clemens likes to talk. The lengths he will go to silence others so that he can have an empty floor are usually funny, and almost always offensive. The excerpts from his daughter's diary draw out very interesting reflections about his family life. I wish these chapters contained more on his wife, but I suppose those stories were saved for posthumous publication.
i would have to add this is a self-absorbed run down memory lane. where I used to have a great deal of respect and admiration for Mark Twain, after reading his autobiography, I no longer do.
Be careful - Twain is a noted tale spinner so is this REALLY the definitive autobiography or a rewrite of an already colorful life? Take a grain of salt and read it anyway.
Loved his approach to autobiography. He tells stories from his lifetime - some of them linked, not all in order.
Plus his humor, as expected, is wonderful!
Plus his humor, as expected, is wonderful!
I get bored without a plot, so I take breaks every quarter. Not sure I will finish this.
my first foray into ebooks with the Nook app for Android
This book got me laughing again and again.
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Samuel Langhorne Clemens
, better known by his pen name
Mark Twain
, was an American author and humorist. He is noted for his novels
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(1885), called "the Great American Novel", and
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(1876).
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer . He apprenticed with a printer. He also work ...more
More about Mark Twain...
Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer . He apprenticed with a printer. He also work ...more
“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”
—
16 likes
“The frankest and freest and privatest product of the human mind and heart is a love letter...”
—
8 likes
More quotes…
