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Life on the Mississippi [Blackstone]
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
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Publisher's summary
The Mississippi River, known as “America’s River” and Mark Twain are practically synonymous in American culture. The popularity of Twain’s steamboat and steamboat pilot on the ever-changing Mississippi has endured for over a century.
A brilliant amalgam of remembrance and reportage, by turns satiric, celebratory, nostalgic, and melancholy, Life on the Mississippi evokes the great river that Mark Twain knew as a boy and young man and the one he revisited as a mature and successful author. Written between the publication of his two greatest novels, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Twain’s rich portrait of the Mississippi marks a distinctive transition in the life of the river and the nation, from the boom years preceding the Civil War to the sober times that followed it.
Samuel Clemens became a licensed river pilot at the age of twenty-four under the apprenticeship of Horace Bixby, pilot of the Paul Jones. His name, Mark Twain, was derived from the river pilot term describing safe navigating conditions, or “mark two fathoms.” This term was shortened to “mark twain” by the leadsmen whose job it was to monitor the water’s depth and report it to the pilot.
Although Mark Twain used his childhood experiences growing up along the Mississippi in numerous works, nowhere is the river and the pilot’s life more thoroughly described than in Life on the Mississippi.
MARK TWAIN (1835–1910) was born Samuel L. Clemens in the town of Florida, Missouri. One of the most popular and influential authors our nation has ever produced, his keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. He has been called not only the greatest humorist of his age but the father of American literature.
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- Unabridged
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In the spring of 1848, rumors began to spread that gold had been discovered in a remote spot in the Sacramento Valley. A year later, newspaper headlines declared "Gold Fever!" as hundreds of thousands of men and women borrowed money, quit their jobs, and allowed themselves - for the first time ever - to imagine a future of ease and splendor.
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Loved it. Want to hear more of Clarks work.
- By Carlos on 01-11-16
By: Edward Dolnick
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The Age of Gold
- The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream
- By: H.W. Brands
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill on the American River, it completely transformed the territory of California. Hundreds of thousands of people sped to California by any means possible, and small cities sprung up to service their needs as they sought the precious metal. By 1850, California had become a state; it had also become a symbol of where the nation was going.
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Very Enjoyable
- By Claire on 01-15-04
By: H.W. Brands
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Hannay: His 5 Adventures
- By: John Buchan
- Narrated by: Graham Scott
- Length: 49 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Thirty-Nine Steps, Hannay struggles to thwart an assassination plot designed to hasten war between Britain and Germany. Later he is plucked from the trenches first, in Greenmantle, to frustrate a plot to ferment an uprising in the Islamic world; and then, in Mr. Standfast, to undertake a vital secret mission against a German spy ring operating among pacifist elements in England. After the war, his adventures continue in The Three Hostages; and then in The Island of Sheep, when an old oath to protect the son of a friend from his days in Africa draws him into new danger.
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Values of a bygone era
- By Barbara on 03-16-24
By: John Buchan
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Nostromo
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 16 hrs and 29 mins
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One of the great adventure novels of our language creates a most engaging central character, Nostromo. A picturesque man of action and popular hero, Nostromo lives to be "well-spoken of" by the citizens of Costaguana, the mythical South American banana republic where the story takes place. Around this figure, Conrad spins a story of revolution, politics, and racial conflict as complex as Nostromo, the man whose greatest enemy is himself.
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Wow!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-11-03
By: Joseph Conrad
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Canoeing with the Cree
- A 2,250-mile voyage from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay
- By: Eric Sevareid
- Narrated by: John Farrell
- Length: 3 hrs and 40 mins
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In 1930, two novice paddlers - Eric Sevareid and Walter C. Port - launched a secondhand 18-foot canvas canoe from the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling for an ambitious summer-long journey from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay. Without benefit of radio, motor or good maps, the teenagers made their way over 2,250 miles of rivers, lakes, and difficult portages.
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Seems like an abridged version
- By Angela on 12-31-09
By: Eric Sevareid
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Harriett Tubman
- The Moses of Her People
- By: Sarah H. Bradford
- Narrated by: Jim Hodges
- Length: 2 hrs and 51 mins
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Historian Sarah Hopkins Bradford details the life of heroic abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who was born into slavery but escaped to lead other enslaved people to freedom.
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Shame on the Narration
- By erica mary on 06-17-20
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Sacred Hunger
- By: Barry Unsworth
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In this Booker Prize-winning work, Barry Unsworth follows the failing fortunes of William Kemp, a merchant pinning his last chance to a slave ship; his son, who needs a fortune because he is in love with an upper-class woman; and his nephew, who sails on the ship as its doctor because he has lost all he has loved. The voyage meets its demise when disease spreads among the slaves and the captain's drastic response provokes a mutiny.
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Wise, Perceptive, Heart-breaking
- By S. Coldsmith on 04-16-16
By: Barry Unsworth
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The Road
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: T. Anthony Quinn
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
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In The Road, Jack London embraces the concepts of unconfined individualism and Darwinism through his autobiographical account of his time riding the rails of Canada and the United States. The author of White Fang, The Call of the Wild, and Sea Wolf, relays the time leading up to turning point in his life - a perfunctory trial and a 30-day imprisonment in the Erie County Penitentiary for the crime of vagrancy - an experience so degrading that he turned to a career in writing.
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Charming, insightful, mind blowing.
- By Grover M Smith II on 05-27-20
By: Jack London
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How I Found Livingstone in Central Africa
- By: Henry M. Stanley
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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This riveting history is a firsthand account of the long and arduous search for one of the greatest explorers of the 19th century. Journalist and adventurer Henry M. Stanley was known for his search for the legendary David Livingstone, and their eventual meeting led to the popular quotation "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" A real-life adventure story, How I Found Livingstone in Central Africa tells of the incredible hardships - disease, hostile natives, tribal warfare, impenetrable jungles, and other obstacles - faced by a daring explorer. This must-have account also includes a wealth of information on various African peoples.
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Remarkable courage and pluck!
- By Jim on 05-25-18
By: Henry M. Stanley
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A hoot
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Too Political and Divisive
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Great Story, but Audio Quality Not Always Good
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A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
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Mark Twain and Nick Offerman are a perfect match
- By Philip M. Chute on 10-23-17
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Life on the Mississippi
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"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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A hoot
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Mark Twain and Nick Offerman are a perfect match
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Writer's ramblings ruined it
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Hilarious
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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.
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Inaudible!
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Joan of Arc
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Originally published in Harper's Magazine in 1895 as chapters attributed to the fictitious author Sieur Louis de Conte, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc is what American novelist and humorist Mark Twain considered to be his greatest work.
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Narrator is just not right
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Here you will find the complete novels of Mark Twain: 1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Starts at Chapter 1, 2. The Prince and the Pauper Starts at Chapter 37, 3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Starts at Chapter 70, 4. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Starts at Chapter 113, 5. The American Claimant Starts at Chapter 158, 6. Tom Sawyer Abroad Starts at Chapter 184, 7. Pudd'nhead Wilson Starts at Chapter 197, 8. Tom Sawyer, Detective Starts at Chapter 219, 9. A Horse's Tale Starts at Chapter 230, 10. The Mysterious Stranger Starts at Chapter 245.
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Content; GREAT! Performance.. .not so much😁
- By brian deis on 01-09-20
By: Mark Twain
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The Prince and the Pauper
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Originally published in 1881, Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper is a timeless tale of switched identities. After the young Prince Edward VI of England and a peasant boy switch places, the "little king" tries to escape from a world in which he must beg for food, sleep with rodents, face ridicule, and avoid assassination. Meanwhile, the peasant, who is now the prince, dreads exposure and possible execution - while members of the Court believe he has gone mad.
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Education of a Prince
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The Innocents Abroad
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The Innocents Abroad is a keenly observant, politically incorrect and often hilarious narration of the author’s cruise to the Holy Land aboard a retired Civil War ship. First published in 1869 and the bestselling of Twain’s works in his lifetime, The Innocents Abroad will delight listeners with the celebrated author’s musings on historic landmarks, cultural differences and silly travelling companions.
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A step in the right direction.
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The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories
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This dark story, set in medieval Austria, hinges on unearthly and hidden mental powers. It also gives an insight to the author's psyche during his final days.
The other stories in this edition include "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg", "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", "The Story of the Bad Little Boy", "The Diary of Adam and Eve", "Edward Mills and George Benton", "The Joke That Made Ed's Fortune", and "A Fable".
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Bad text, humdrum narration
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By: Mark Twain
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In 1861, young Mark Twain found himself adrift as a tenderfoot in the Wild West. Roughing It is a hilarious record of his travels over a six-year period that comes to life with his inimitable mixture of reporting, social satire, and rollicking tall tales. Twain reflects on his scuffling years mining silver in Nevada, working at a Virginia City newspaper, being downandout in San Francisco, reporting for a newspaper from Hawaii, and more.
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The wild humorist of the West
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By: Mark Twain
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A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage
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New Mark Twain! This previously unpublished Twain piece was written 125 years ago, composed in 1876 as a "blind novelette" that Twain planned to launch as a competition for other great writers of the day. The competition never took place, and the story was thought by many to have been lost. This rediscovered gem, with a new introduction and afterword by Roy Blount, Jr., and brilliantly read by Blount and Garrison Keillor, allows us, once again, to celebrate the literary genius of Mark Twain.
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Good story, pointless afterword
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By: Mark Twain
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The Diaries of Adam and Eve
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Mark Twain spills his wit and whimsical sense of humor into his novel, The Diaries of Adam and Eve. The story tells of the events that took place in the Garden of Eden prior to the entrance of the deceitful serpent. Adam and Eve are not exactly getting along. Through the struggles listed in their diaries, one can safely assume that these two very different human beings are each other's greatest source of frustration.
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Not My Favorite Mark Twain Story
- By Paul T. on 08-14-24
By: Mark Twain
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Tales of the Fish Patrol
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- Unabridged
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In this classic collection of stories drawn from his own experiences, author Jack London looks back on his days as a teenager aboard the fishing boats of San Francisco Bay. In the early 1900s, men of all stripes descended on these waters to plunder its rich oyster beds. To stop the run on the waters, a patrol was established. London began his youthful adventures on the wrong side of the law, as an oyster pirate.
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Good Book, Strange Reading
- By Matt Malone on 01-17-11
By: Jack London
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The Great River
- The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi
- By: Boyce Upholt
- Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan
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- Unabridged
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Over thousands of years, the Mississippi watershed was home to millions of Indigenous people who regarded "the great river" with awe and respect, adorning its banks with astonishing spiritual earthworks. But European settlers and American pioneers had a different vision: the river was a foe to conquer. In this landmark work of natural history, Boyce Upholt tells the epic story of human attempts to own and contain the Mississippi River, from Thomas Jefferson's expansionist land hunger through today's era of environmental concern
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a great summation of the Great River
- By Michael H. Link on 07-27-24
By: Boyce Upholt
What listeners say about Life on the Mississippi [Blackstone]
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- David
- 02-05-21
Love the Book - Not So Much the Narration
I love Twain. I have read this book half a dozen times and listened to this Audiobook a few times.
On the whole, of course the Story is a Five-star rating.
But, I am VERY sorry to say, that although Grover Gardner is my absolute favorite Narrator, I do NOT like his readings of Twain.
Technically flawless reading, but I somehow expect a southern drawl or something like that - Gardner reading Twain seems a little "less" to me and perhaps a bit jarring.
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- CP
- 12-17-22
A History in much detail.
Mark Twain indeed was a man who knew how to choose his words. He was very knowledgeable so this book includes both his knowledge and his wit. Not everyone will appreciate the great detail of each experience but we enjoyed it and even learned alot.
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-08-23
Good read
The story was an interesting look at life on the river. It was also interesting how much information a river pilot had to keep in his head.
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- Robert
- 03-07-16
Great historical reference
I was very interested to read my first Mark Twain book and I have always enjoyed his observations on life and travel.
I always love the way Twain turns a phrase. And this is great for short stories or snippets. I was surprised at how tedious this can make a novel. When everything is grandiose and larger than life...well..it all starts to sound plain and boring. The actual information and nuggets of truth get lost in the decoration. About half way through I started only listening to 15-20 minute segments before changing to something else and coming back to the book later. He is still witty. I would love to share a corner of a party with him, but maybe not hang out with him every day.
As a history book I was fascinated at the look Twain provided. Both with the development of the river and the communities and cultures along it. Such a valuable look into how people lived and thought at that time. Amazing that while many things have changed many struggles remain universal. Providing for your family, complaints about the dangers of new technology, evils of corporations, etc.
The narrator was a good selection for the voice of Twain in my head. Enough of a drawl to know it is there but not too over the top. Any difficulties with the reading I feel were ultimately with the text and not his performance.
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- Anonymous User
- 08-09-22
Delightful surprise
First hand experience of history with a sly wit. Didn’t know Twain wrote non-fiction. Highly recommend.
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- Blake
- 01-14-23
Doesn’t Get Better With Age
I read this book as a young adult and I remember loving it, mesmerized by Mark Twain’s stories of being a riverboat pilot as a young adult himself. Reading (or I should say listening) to it again 40 years later I realize now the book is far less about Mark Twain’s actual adventures, but a long string of fictional accounts set on the river loosely based on perhaps some actual events and characters he may have experienced and possibly met. Twain probably never met a situation or man he couldn’t improve on with a nice assortment of words from his vivid imagination. Life on the Mississippi is a great example of his active imagination and many of the yarns he tells don’t pass the test of time. By the end of the book I was a bit disappointed that I thought this was a real history of his experiences when I read it the first time as a much younger person. The narration by Grover Gardner is outstanding, full of emotion when called for, and keeps the words flowing all along.
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- Russell Bernard
- 09-25-16
What a pleasure to listen to!!
What comments could I add to the greatest American author that lived. Grover Gardner does a great job as usual. This gave me a real sense of the Mississippi in the eighteen hundreds. I loved the part about Huck Finn and those excerpts.
Try something different and dig into some of the lesser known Twain classics
The Elija Wood version of Huck Fine is a treat and some Twian that should not be missed.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-07-21
Great!
Genius telling his story with and old humor easily understood. So detailed i could imagine being there.
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- Florida Mama
- 11-13-23
Life on the Mississippi
I like how the river and the history of America intertwined. It was worth the time, even being quite long.
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- Michael Camardese
- 08-31-24
History Delivered First Hand
Samuel Clemens lived this history & had the foolish idea that he could capture it & write about with alacrity. How right he was. He was able to portray a swath of the United States in all of its glory & shortcomings & delineated its place in history with a truthfulness that is refreshing.
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