Autobiography of Mark Twain Part 1

I listened to the Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1 after volume II. As his biography is not chronological it did not make a difference. Many people may have tried to get through part one of the written autobiography and gave up as the first 10% of this book covers the logistics of compiling the autobiography and the many aborted attempts to put the autobiography to paper. He often makes accurate predictions about which events of the day will be long remembered and others which will be long forgotten once his autobiography is published 100 years after his passing.

After the initial preliminaries, the book moves into interesting territory. His gripping description of the doomed 1866 voyage of the USS Hornet came from his interviews of the crew after they arrived in their lifeboat in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).

His work with Ulysses S. Grant on his autobiography gave me a better appreciation for the Union General and President. The royalties from the autobiography provided funds to take care of the Grant family after his passing. Grant lost his fortune due to an unfortunate interactions with a financial swindler, Ferdinand Ward.

Mark Twain's daughter Suzy wrote a biography of her papa and Mark refers to it frequently in his stream of conscious autobiography. His daughter gives a refreshing assessment of her father and the people he encounters.

The biography contains gems of humor including Mark relating his wife's interaction with a German servant referred to as Wuthering Heights. His wife's determined attempts to offer constructive criticism were no match for the deft verbal parries of this confident chatterbox.

The last chapter includes Twain's encounter with Helen Keller (Open Culture.com). Mark came away impressed with her and made sure through his benefactor that her education would be taken care of. 

Adventures of Mark Twain - 44 minutes

About the autobiography of Mark Twain - 5 min.