Autobiography of Mark Twain: Volume 1, Reader's Edition by Mark TwainMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
As I listened to this 72-hour swan dive into Mark Twain's recollections, I felt as though I were on a rocking chair on his porch as he meandered through a life vigorously lived.
The story behind the book's creation is as interesting as the book itself. In order to be able to freely opine about his contemporaries without ruffling feathers, he made his publisher commit to waiting until a century after his death to publish. The resulting freedom allowed Twain to lower his booming witticisms on a conveyor belt of targets that filter through his consciousness.
With an admittedy unattainable goal of presenting an honest evaluation of his lifes, times, loves, losses, triumphs and foibles in mind, Twain seems also bent on crafting the longest autobiography ever attempted. He keeps the true purpose of the volume's length private until the end, after which he stops abruptly. I won't spoil the reason, but will share that it hits with a sense of heartache.
As long as the book was, I cherished every hour and felt a stinging sense of loss when it ended. What Twain has crafted here is a selfless gift to his fans, and I implore every one of them to brush aside any concerns about its length and dive in. The book may not be his best, but what he managed to craft here is something more than a tome. It's the closest any of us will ever get to feeling as though we had a long conversation with him. This is not Mark Twain's autobiography, after all. It's his ghost.
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