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.
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Laurence Sterne’s most famous novel is a biting satire of literary conventions and contemporary 18th-century values. Renowned for its parody of established narrative techniques, Tristram Shandyis commonly regarded as the forerunner of avant-garde fiction. Tristram’s characteristic digressions on a whole range of unlikely subjects (including battle strategy and noses!) are endlessly surprising and make this one of Britain’s greatest comic achievements.
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Like discovering Frank Zappa in 250 years
- By Darwin8u on 01-02-14
By: Laurence Sterne
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Father Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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Impoverished young aristocrat Eugene de Rastignac is determined to climb the social ladder and impress himself on Parisian high society. While staying at the Maison Vauquer, a boarding house in Paris's rue Neuve-Sainte-Genevieve, he encounters Jean-Joachim Goriot, a retired vermicelli maker who has spent his entire fortune supporting his two daughters. The boarders strike up a friendship and Goriot learns of Rastignac's feelings for his daughter Delphine. He begins to see Rastignac as the ideal son-in-law, and the perfect substitute for Delphine's domineering husband. But Rastignac has other opportunities too....
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Astounding performance
- By Laurence Grey on 04-05-21
By: Honoré de Balzac
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The Moor's Last Sigh
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra
- Length: 20 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Booker Prize-winning author Salman Rushdie combines a ferociously witty family saga with a surreally imagined and sometimes blasphemous chronicle of modern India and flavors the mixture with peppery soliloquies on art, ethnicity, religious fanaticism, and the terrifying power of love. Moraes "Moor" Zogoiby, the last surviving scion of a dynasty of Cochinese spice merchants and crime lords, is also a compulsive storyteller and an exile.
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The performance is enchanting.
- By Kelly on 05-04-18
By: Salman Rushdie
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A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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This is one of the defining novels of English writer Julian Barnes. An entertaining melange of stories starting with a contemporary account of the launch of Noah's Ark takes us into unexpected areas of human foibles, activities, and tendencies.
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Not what I Expected
- By Mark on 02-20-08
By: Julian Barnes
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The Bondwoman's Narrative
- By: Hannah Crafts, edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
- Narrated by: Anna Deavere Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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An unprecedented historical and literary event, this tale written in the 1850s is the only known novel by a female African American slave, and quite possibly the first novel written by a black woman anywhere. A work recently uncovered by renowned scholar and professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., it is a stirring tale of "passing" and the adventures of a young slave as she makes her way to freedom.
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Poor reading of an important book
- By Hilary on 11-15-04
By: Hannah Crafts, and others
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The Betrothed
- By: Alessandro Manzoni
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 24 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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After the jealous tyrant Don Rodrigo foils their wedding, young Lombardian peasants Lucia and Lorenzo must separate and flee for their safety. Their difficult path to matrimony takes place against the turbulent backdrop of the Thirty Years War, where lawlessness and exploitation are at their height. Lucia takes refuge in a convent, where she is later abducted and taken on a nightmarish journey to a sinister castle, while Lorenzo goes to Milan, where he witnesses famine, riots, and plague - all evoked through meticulous description and with stunning immediacy.
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Fantastic reading of a great work of literature
- By Pia Crosby on 03-25-19
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The Yellow Wallpaper
- By: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Narrated by: Jo Myddleton
- Length: 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Instructed to abandon her intellectual life and avoid stimulating company, she sinks into a still-deeper depression invisible to her husband, who believes he knows what is best for her. Alone in the yellow-wallpapered nursery of a rented house, she descends into madness.
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A Visceral Reaction
- By Em on 05-02-12
What listeners say about Letters from the Earth
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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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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- 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