
Letters from the Earth
Uncensored Writings by Mark Twain
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Narrated by:
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Carl Reiner
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By:
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Mark Twain
About this listen
Penniless and downtrodden at the loss of his wife and one of his daughters, Samuel Clemens turned to writing. The short stories and essays in Letters from the Earth find Clemens—under the pseudonym of Mark Twain—at perhaps his most quizzical and questioning state ever.
Written as diary entries, Twain penned a series of letters from the point of view of a dejected angel on Earth who observes the many curious natures of man. These pieces, gathered by Twain's literary executor, feature sharp takes on the inconsistencies and illogic of Christianity and farcical criticisms of American life.
Deemed too irreligious and controversial to see the light of day when Twain wrote them, their publication occurred more than fifty years after his death. A brilliant treasure trove of satirical and witty observations of humankind, Letters from the Earth showcases Twain's true range as an author.
©2020 Phoenix Books (P)2022 Phoenix BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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great reader, great tale
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-
-
Mark Twain
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
This book is part memoir, part philosophical text, part study in human behavior, from one of America's greatest literary treasures. Narrated masterfully by Bronson Pinchot, this audiobook also includes Twain’s popular short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".
-
-
Fabulous Performance AND Read
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The Mysterious Stranger
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- Length: 4 hrs
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
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By: Mark Twain
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- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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-
-
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- By BethGA on 02-27-24
By: Mark Twain
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- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Richard Henzel
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pudd'nhead Wilson, like many other Mark Twain books, was read aloud by the author to his wife and daughters, chapter by chapter, as it was being written.
-
-
great reader, great tale
- By Rose on 10-28-07
By: Mark Twain
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Content; GREAT! Performance.. .not so much😁
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Performance
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Story
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Great Entertainment from the Garden of Eden
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The Diaries of Adam & Eve
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Adam and Eve
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By: Mark Twain
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Life on the Mississippi
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
"Life on the Mississippi" (1883) is a memoir by Mark Twain of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War, and also a travel book, recounting his trip along the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans many years after the War.
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Writer's ramblings ruined it
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Roughing It
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Performance
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Story
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Hilarious
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By: Mark Twain
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Joan of Arc
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Very few people know that Mark Twain wrote a major work on Joan of Arc. Still fewer know that he considered it not only his most important, but also his best work. He spent 12 years in research and many months in France doing archival work, and then made several attempts until he felt he finally had the story he wanted to tell.
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Twain's best
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By: Mark Twain
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Mark Twain Collection
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Here are three of the most celebrated works of Mark Twain collected in a single volume. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court bring you an interesting array of exciting characters and entertaining adventures that have been precious to readers for years.
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Twain is great, but...
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By: Mark Twain
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The Prince and the Pauper
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
They look alike, but they live in very different worlds. Tom Canty, impoverished and abused by his father, is fascinated with royalty. Edward Tudor, heir to the throne of England, is kind and generous but wants to run free and play in the river - just once. How insubstantial their differences truly are becomes clear when a chance encounter leads to an exchange of clothing - and roles. The pauper finds himself caught up in the pomp and folly of the royal court, and the prince wanders horror-stricken through the lower strata of English society.
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Wonderful author, terrific narrator, splendid book
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By: Mark Twain
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Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Joan of Arc's life and her accomplishments, as seen through the eyes of her childhood friend, are described with irony and brilliant insight into human nature. This was Twain's last book and he considered it to be his best.
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Really excellent!
- By Susan on 11-12-16
By: Mark Twain
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Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection
- By: Stephen Fry, Washington Irving, M.R. James, and others
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.
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Wonderful narration. Mediocre stories.
- By Michael Fuchs on 11-07-23
By: Stephen Fry, and others
What listeners say about Letters from the Earth
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Performance
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- buckpasser
- 01-25-23
Carl Reiner captures Twain
Wonderful reading that captures depths of Twain's curious mind. It was hard to believe it was written over a 110 years ago. Be cautioned that this is the philosophical Twain not the humorous one.
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Overall
- Martha Meyer
- 10-08-19
The Unknown Mark Twain
Extraordinary and mind blowing ! still controversial after over one hundred years. try to find it at alibrary.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Charles
- 11-28-11
A must read for thinking people
Sam Clements didn't want people to read what he actually thought regarding some of the dearest ideas most of mankind hold close. At least he didn't want them read any time
near to when he passed.
It is hard to believe that this many years have gone by since he wrote this kind of material
and still people think he had a "negative attitude".
If one writes the obvious, and the obvious questions belief, where is the harm?
We have been programmed to accept what we have been told, and few are those that dare, or should I dare say, feel compelled to speak the obvious.
Thank God we had Mark Twain to speak for us......
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16 people found this helpful
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- Bubikon
- 10-16-23
The best book about religion ever
Hilarious and true, the finest analysis ofGod,the Bibles and the universe. Remarkable in its age, probably truer today than when written.
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-08-18
A perspective I didn't expect
a series of unconnected stories. By themselves they are interesting, as a collection it didn't work for me I have to say. most of the stories were unfinished and an editor used his notes to complete.
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2 people found this helpful
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- david donovan
- 12-30-19
Very Strange Book.
This is more an almost random collection of unfinished stories first published in 1962 and collected by Bernard DeVoto. Atheists would love the parts where Twain was making fun of the Bible and Religion. But... those parts were written in a personally “dark” period. And are only about half the volume. The remainder are parts of stories that nothing to do with each other.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Cenobite
- 06-23-22
A Beloved Banned Book
A must listen.
What else is there to say ?
Written when Samuel Clemens was so disillusioned with so called "civilized" human behavior and our belief in a "Loving" Creator who was obviously just as flawed as our unquestioning faith in Him.
Surely Blasphemous at the time of his death.
Unfortunately, just as poignant today. Showing that the more we advance as a species, the more the we stay the same.
Wonderfully read.
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-17-23
Excellent
Thought provoking and Incredible wordsmith. Mark Twain, as usual, does not let you down. 5/5
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- Joseph
- 04-24-22
Sarcastic, satirical and humorous. Great.
The first two chapters are a must read (listen). Extremely sarcastic, satirical and humorous. If you are a believer in the Bible - or have strong Abrahamic beliefs - this book will offend you even though you should probably read it. Underneath the wonderful words of Mark Twain is a challenge to approach religion with the same skepticism that we approach everyday life. The first two chapters alone are worth a hundred other chapters.
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- JRob
- 02-21-16
Truly great stuff.
Brilliant and hilarious perspectives on humanity. I loved every bit, with the exception of the last story about the voyage in a drop of water. (That one kind of lost me.) But the rest of the content is an absolute must-read for everyone.
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7 people found this helpful