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From Booklist
The editors of this book have serious reason to believe that the Bible influenced Mark Twain more than any other book as his beliefs progressed from Presbyterianism through deism and on to Darwinian determinism. They scoured 40 years of his writings to compile an anthology of both unpublished and newly edited works, complete with appendixes of related pieces, in which Twain dealt with biblical figures, themes, or settings. The result is a fascinating contribution to the Twain canon in which we see him wrestle with the God-man relationship and take provocative stabs at the Bible's inconsistencies. Twain's styles here are as arresting as his content as he moves from biblical rhythms and rhetoric to the Pepysian bombast of the author he was reading when he wrote "Methuselah's Diary." Twain aficionados will revel in such episodes as Shem and his family sitting up all night signing autographs for their now-famous dad, Noah, while Methuselah pouts that he was not selected to build the infamous ark. A collection that offers readers a fascinating panoply of wit, satire, farce, fantasy, lyricism, heresy, the sardonic, and the controversial. Patricia Hassler
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
"The Bible According to Mark Twain helps us in the process of rediscovering or reinventing Mark Twain by engaging our question about where this figure came from, what forces shaped him, what he means, and why he speaks to and for Americans especially.”--College Literature
"Baetzhold and McCullough have delivered a great boon to lovers of Mark Twain. In providing for both those Biblical writings which Twain considered publishable and those that then seemed too potentially offensive for publication, they have enabled us to gain a fuller comprehension of the very complex author. In providing the original form as well as revised versions of published material, they have enabled us to observe the artist at work and thus to gain a deeper insight into the nature of his art. And in making their explanatory materials so readable and readily accessible, they made the pursuit of Mark Twain studies thoroughly enjoyable."--Mark Twain Society
"A collection that offers readers a fascinating panoply of wit, satire, farce, fantasy, lyricism, heresy, the sardonic, and the controversial."--Booklist
"The present collection—spanning four decades (1871-1910)—is both a genuine service to Twain lovers and one showing Twain at his most charming and witty."--Kirkus Reviews
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Mark Twain wrote "Adam's Diary" at the Villa Viviani, near Florence, Italy, where the family had moved in late September 1892, after a summer at Bad Nauheim, Germany. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Mark Twain wrote "Adam's Diary" at the Villa Viviani, near Florence, Italy, where the family had moved in late September 1892, after a summer at Bad Nauheim, Germany. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Generally, a good collection,
By John Rush (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Bible According to Mark Twain (Paperback)
In the decades since his death, many of Mark Twain's writings have been reorganized into common themes such as protests, speeches, short stories and sketches, and full works of fiction in larger volumes. A recent welcome addition to these is The Bible According to Mark Twain, which includes diaries of Adam, Eve, and other Old Testament characters, various speculations on what the imaginary Heaven might be like (including Captain Stormfield's), some autobiographical dictations, a few pieces that appear in print for the first time, and, of course, Letters From the Earth.It also contains too many of the editor's notes that plague most of Twain's posthumous releases. Here, notes take up 50 of the book's first 260 pages (10 more are blank). Why do editors feel compelled to insert their version of Twain's autobiography before every entry? If they must share this information with readers, they can do so at the start or the end of the book, without interrupting Twain's far superior writing. Granted, some of the details are worth knowing: Twain read Paine's Age of Reason while piloting riverboats. This helped shape his views toward Christianity. But other statements are extremely irritating: "...we have omitted the five-and-a-half page attack on the concept of the virgin birth (mistakenly referred to as the immaculate conception) because that discussion is not closely related to the writings in this volume." Yes it is! Claims like this make me wonder what else is missing. The rest of Twain's writings on religion need a book of their own, WITHOUT the gratuitous editorial comments. I'll let Twain have the last word: "From the beginning of time, whenever a king has lain dangerously ill, the priesthood and some part of the nation have prayed in unison that the king be spared to his grieving and anxious people (in case they were grieving and anxious, which was not usually the rule) and in no instance was their prayer ever answered. When Mr. Garfield lay near to death, the physicians and surgeons knew that nothing could save him, yet at an appointed signal all the pulpits in the United States broke forth with one simultaneous and supplicating appeal for the President's restoration to health. They did this with the same old innocent confidence with which the primeval savage had prayed to his imaginary devils to spare his perishing chief -- for that day will never come when facts and experience can teach a pulpit anything useful. Of course the President died, just the same."
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Indispensable religious satire,
By
This review is from: The Bible According to Mark Twain (Paperback)
Mark Twain promptly proves with this volume that he is, indeed, as the title states, "America's Master Satirist." Having grown up in a fundamentalist Presbyterian community, Twain knew his Bible well; and, like any thinking person, his beliefs and attitudes relating to it changed as he grew older, wiser, and more experienced. Although Twain - due to many factors, such as the death of several children and his wife and his failed investments - grew famously bitter towards the end of his life, his vision remained remarkably clear-headed, though clearly suffued with pessimism - indeed, his zest for the truth and absolute intolerance for mankind's accepted irrational beliefs became even more razor-sharp during this period. Although there are writings in this volume from all phases of Mark Twain's career, the majority of them do come from that latter period - a period in which, indeed, the exploration of these themes was the main facet of his writing. Included are such well-known items as the Diaries of Adam and Eve (as well as several other Old Testament characters), Captain Stormfield's Visit To Heaven (published here in full for the first time ever), and, of course, his masterpiece, Letters From The Earth. In these, and the other, oftentimes more obscure pieces, Twain burlesques and satarizes freely, calling mankind on both his steadfast taking to irrational and illogical beliefs, as well as on his sheer stupidity and gullibility. If one is looking for a satire along the lines of Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn, then this is DEFINITELY not the place to look; however, if you have a fondness, as I do, for the darker, more probing side of Twain, then this is a volume that you must most definitely pick up.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Every Bible-thumper should read this book!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Bible According to Mark Twain (Paperback)
Anybody looking for a way to deflate the self-righteous, Bible-thumping, polyester-wearing right-wing nuts of our day ought to give them a copy of this book. Not only does this book show how ridiculous the Bible is, it does it in a very comical inoffensive (if you have an open mind it's inoffensive) way. A book every thinking person will love!
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