Life on the Mississippi Audiobook By Mark Twain cover art

Life on the Mississippi

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Life on the Mississippi

By: Mark Twain
Narrated by: Norman Dietz
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When Mark Twain was growing up, all he wanted to be was a steamboat man. And so Twain ran away in pursuit of his dream. Life on the mighty river for Twain consisted of paddleboats and history, poker games and gamblers, larger-than-life characters and outlandish festivals like Mardi Gras. Twain recorded it all with his keen eye for detail and biting wit.Public Domain (P)2004 Recorded Books Americas Art & Literature Authors Literary History & Criticism North America State & Local United States World Literature Funny Witty

Editorial reviews

Over a century before the dime-a-dozen memoirs started popping up on our shelves from people with dubious claims to fame, Mark Twain wrote Life on the Mississippi. At the age of 12, when he was still going by Samuel Clemens, he left school to begin a career of odd jobs until he received his steamboat pilot license. It was this experience going up and down the Mississippi on the steamboat that not only provided the backdrop to these humorous and exciting tales, but also the occupation which gave him his famous pen name. Veteran narrator Norman Dietz gives a performance Twain would be proud of, ensuring the satire and earnestness alike are not lost on any listener.
Historical Perspective • Entertaining Anecdotes • Excellent Narration • Artful Language • Picturesque Vignettes
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This book got some bad reviews here, but I can't see why. The narrator was a champion storyteller and every word was clear. It's about an interesting time in American history, humorously told as the autobiography of a steamboat pilot.

Absolutely delightful

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I found this book to be mostly fun to listen to, but there are some dead sections. The reader did a great job and helped to make it better. There are some good historical sections that made me glad I didn't give up on it.

Decent Listen

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The wild man from Hannibal who gave us Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn remembers (and revisits) his home town in this memoir written after he was rich and famous and no longer the kid that in his heart he always remained, at least partly. In making the journey, he tells about the geologic history of the Mississippi, about the geographic effects of the river, about the early days of steamboating on the river and the complexity of the task of moving a boat on a river that changed from hour to hour and day to day and was always ready to grab a boat and its passengers and pull them to muddy death. Any reader who enjoyed Tom and Huck owes it to himself to sample this wonderful story by a man who never wrote a bad sentence, although he was know for using bad language, i.e. profanity, at the drop of a cigar ash. I have listened to the recording twice, have read the book more than two times, and if I take a notion, I will do it again, regardless of the consequences, so little do I value sanity. (That was supposed to be humorous, but I really have listened twice and read twice....and I hope you do too.)

Humorous, poignant, informative, adventurous

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narrator changed for appendix and sounded very rushed, I decided to just read that, book is free from Gutenberg

mark twain at his best

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This is kind of a fun book that takes you back in history. These were simpler times. I had fun listening to this book and would recommend it to everyone.

I've always like stuff about Mark Twain...

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The narration is excellent and the story offers an interesting historical perspective of a unique period in American history. Still, the book is short on the wit and humor that mark many of Twain's other better books.

Not one of Twain's best

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I am shocked that people actually had the audacity to review this work based upon its fidelity. And for the record (no pun), the recording is FINE if you have any clue how to operate any sort of an audio playback machine.
What this piece is about is obviously the text, which is Twain at his documentary best.
This piece is also about Norman Dietz, who is -objectively- the most straight and consistent reader of the Twain out there. And he's on the money and very sweet in this version.
But getting back to the text, this is a most lovely American document. It should be required reading. Artfully woven language, satire and prose, with a touch of poetic angst put this in the tops of this reviewers list of books-to-be-listened-to.
Thank you, Norman, and a huge thanks to the author wherever he is. He's a mighty powerful pen with a passion and a pension to please.

Quintessent, Elegant, Perfect...

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This well written book by Mark Twain is really his observations about life on Mississippi steamboats and cities up and down the river. He tells stories about the people he met and stories he was told. I found it interesting and almost felt like I was on one of the steamboats looking at the shoreline of cabins, shacks and people. His writing helped me to feel what it was like in that time period and what the people and places were like. I would recommend this book.

The Mississippi river stories

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Listened to a different version with Grover Gardner and it is wonderful.
the stories are wonderful.

Great American Classic all should listen to.

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What made the experience of listening to Life on the Mississippi the most enjoyable?

Twain of course, and the narrator.

What did you like best about this story?

the mix of the factual with the narrative ability.

Which character – as performed by Norman Dietz – was your favorite?

all of them.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

after the steamboat explosion

I can see why this is considered Twain's best

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