Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1: The Complete and Authoritative Edition

by Mark Twain, Harriet E. Smith (Editor), Benjamin Griffin (Editor), Victor Fischer (Editor), Michael Barry Frank (Editor)

Overview

Mark Twain's final and uncensored masterpiece, presented in three volumes, is a landmark publication in American literature.

“Twain will begin to seem strange again, alluring and still astonishing . . . in ways that still resonate with us.”—New York Times

“His crystalline humor and expansive range are a continuous source of delight and awe.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review

"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 The strict instruction that many of these texts remain unpublished for 100 years meant that when they came out, he would be "dead, and unaware, and indifferent," and that he was therefore free to speak his "whole frank mind."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 marks the 100th anniversary of Twain's death. In celebration of this important milestone and in honor of the cherished tradition of publishing Mark Twain's works, UC Press is proud to offer for the first time Mark Twain's uncensored autobiography in its entirety and exactly as he left it. This major literary event brings to readers, admirers, and scholars 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.

Editors:

Harriet E. Smith, Benjamin Griffin, Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, Sharon K. Goetz, Leslie Myrick

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520946996
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	11/15/2010
Series:	Mark Twain Papers , #10
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	760
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Harriet Elinor Smith is an editor at the Mark Twain Project, which is housed within the Mark Twain Papers, the world's largest archive of primary materials by this major American writer. Under the direction of General Editor Robert H. Hirst, the Project's editors are producing the first comprehensive edition of all of Mark Twain's writings.

Date of Birth:

November 30, 1835

Date of Death:

April 21, 1910

Place of Birth:

Florida, Missouri

Place of Death:

Redding, Connecticut

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN
An Early Attempt
My Autobiography [Random Extracts from It]
The Latest Attempt
The Final (and Right) Plan
Preface. As from the Grave
The Florentine Dictations
Autobiographical Dictations, January–March 1906

Appendix: Preliminary Manuscripts and Dictations
Samuel L. Clemens: A Brief Chronology
Family Biographies
References
Excerpt from Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2

Editorial Reviews

Mission accomplished, Mr. Clemens.

Boston Review - Roger Boylan

Dip into the first enormous volume of Twain’s autobiography that he had decreed should not appear until 100 years after his death. And Twain will begin to seem strange again, alluring and still astonishing, but less sure-footed, and at times both puzzled and puzzling in ways that still resonate with us, though not the ways we might expect.

New York Times

Twain's autobiography, finally available after a century, is a garrulous outpouring—and every word beguiles.

Wall Street Journal

This is a book to treasure for all friends of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Acadiana Lifestyle Magazine

Twain would approve!

Bookideas.com

Promises a no-holds barred perspective on Twain’s life, and will be rich with rambunctious, uncompromising opinions.

Herald Scotland

The bestseller chart is awash with memoirs — but none offer the extreme reading of the Autobiography of Mark Twain.

The Times - Debra Craine

Sometimes the autobiography seems Twain’s letter to posterity. At other times, reading it feels like eavesdropping on a conversation he is having with himself. . . . This first installment of Twain’s autobiography brings us closer to all of him than we have ever come before.

New York Review Of Books

With the uncensored Twain finally here, we're the furthest thing from indifferent.

TIME Magazine

Twain generously provides the 21st century aficionado a marvelous read. His crystalline humor and expansive range are a continuous source of delight and awe. . . . [He] has given us ‘an astonishment’ in his autobiography with his final, beautifully unorganized genius and intemperate thoughts. Pull up a chair and revel.

Los Angeles Times Book Review

Twian’s ‘Final Plan’ has been released in a truly spectacular first volume of his posthumous ‘Autobiography’.

Engineering & Technology - Vitali Vitaliev

A major achevement.

Choice

Brimming with Twain’s humor, ideas and opinions, this is a book for anyone interested in the writer’s work and life.

Curledup.com

Pure Twain at his typically discursive, rambling, and droll. . . . The bard of Hannibal still has much to say.

American Heritage

This is a book for dipping, not plunging. Read, as Twain might put it, until interest pales, and then jump. It feels like a form of time travel.

New York Times/The Opinion Pages

His '’whole frank mind,’ sharp and funny, is seared onto every page. A

Entertainment Weekly

Pure Twain at his typically discursive, rambling, and droll. . . . The bard of Hannibal still has much to say.

American Heritage Publishing Staff

“Twain's autobiography, finally available after a century, is a garrulous outpouring—and every word beguiles.

Wall Street Journal

“Twain generously provides the 21st century aficionado a marvelous read. His crystalline humor and expansive range are a continuous source of delight and awe. . . . [He] has given us ‘an astonishment’ in his autobiography with his final, beautifully unorganized genius and intemperate thoughts. Pull up a chair and revel.

Los Angeles Times Book Review

“With the uncensored Twain finally here, we're the furthest thing from indifferent.

Time Magazine

This first of three volumes of Twain's (1835–1910) autobiography, published as part of the Mark Twain Project, blows away all previous editions, including that edited by Charles Neider in 1959, which is also available from Blackstone Audio. For the first time, all of Twain's words appear in full, arranged exactly as he composed them and intended them to be published, per his instruction, on the centenary of his death. Veteran narrator Grover Gardner adeptly presents the material; his delivery of the German tongue-twisters in particular are a treat. Yet, though the book might seem a perfect fit for audio, especially since Twain dictated much of it, some listeners may be put off to discover that the editorial front matter fills up nearly two discs. And while editor Smith's excellent introduction will fascinate scholars and serious Twain buffs, it may leave others impatient to get to Twain's own texts—with no idea of exactly when that will happen, as the contents of each disc are not labeled. Most valuable as a supplement to the print material. [See Major Audio Releases, LJ 10/15/10; the LJ and New York Times best-selling Univ. of California Pr. hc received a starred review, LJ 9/15/10.—Ed.]—R. Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA

Library Journal