Not as revealing of this opinion of various 19th Century individuals as Volume One but more revealing of Samuel Clemons own thoughts and feelings. His thoughts about his three daughters were particularly touching, especially Jean and Susy who did not survive him. He was very forthcoming about his failures and weaknesses, not every autobiography is so candid. Highly recommended by me, though a warning it is very long and there are some tedious parts. All Mark Twain fans should read this. ( )

This is not as bad as volume one, in that less of the book is taken up by idiots from the literary establishment. Twain still refuses to sit down and write an autobiography; his conceit is that he will spend several sessions dictating this garbage and he will stop when he feels like it and discuss something that just occurs to him. The saving grace is that Mark Twain is someone who has worthwhile ideas; his dissection of Bret Harte and Stanford White are wonderful, as is his commentary on churches of any
kind. The idea is that this book would not get published until Twain had been dead 100 years, but there is not much commentary that he should worry about. ( )

Mark Twain had a mouth on him, no doubt about it – and that is why it is still so much fun to read the man’s writing today. But even Twain knew that the world was not quite ready for the unexpurgated version of his thoughts that comprises the first two volumes (a third volume is yet to follow) of his autobiography, so he stipulated that the complete biography was not to be published until 100 years after his death – which occurred on April 21, 1910. For those of us lucky enough to be around for the unveiling of the uncensored version of the manuscripts, it was well worth the wait.

Close to half of the material contained in the autobiography has never been published before, and readers have the Mark Twain Project (of the University of California, Berkeley) to thank for making it available now. The previously published material has been published several times in the past, but always in an abridged form guaranteed not to offend. But even the unrestricted version of Twain’s manuscripts is not what readers have come to expect from an autobiography.

Rather than tell the story of his life in chronological order, Twain decided early on that he would dictate his thoughts to a stenographer as they occurred to him – regardless of where they might fit into the story of his life. And, because he wanted them published in the order that he dictated them, reading the two books is more like having a conversation with Twain than anything else. It is as if the man were sitting across the room and telling random stories from his life as they cross his mind.

And what stories they are! They range all the way from his thoughts on rather trivial newspaper stories that may have caught his eye over breakfast to wonderful remembrances of things that happened in the first decade or two of his life. We learn of the villains in Twain’s world, some of whom personally crippled him with huge financial losses and scams, and others who were simply the villains of their times, men like Jay Gould and Belgium’s King Leopold II. We learn much about his brother, a man full of dreams but without the ability to make any of them come true. And most touchingly, Twain shares his deep love for Susy, the daughter who was snatched from the family so suddenly, by quoting liberally from the biography she wrote about her father. (My own favorite sections of the book deal with Twain’s relationship with the U.S. Grant family and publication of the former president’s memoirs.)

Twain, though, never passes up the opportunity for a little personal vengeance. As he often reminds his readers, he is speaking from the grave now, so what does he care about offending anyone? He just wants to set the record straight – at least as he sees that record. So rather unfortunately, the reader will have to wade through what seems like countless pages about the copyright laws of the day and biting commentary about an Italian landlady who drove Twain nuts for several months.

Intimidating as the two books may first appear, the author’s charm and rascality make reading them a pleasure that Twain fans will not want to miss. ( )

Wow. Many of Twain's observations, particularly about politics and human nature, still hold true today. His sense of humor is even more playful, satirical, and sarcastic than the books he published during his lifetime because he is free to say anything he likes about anyone, knowing his words won't be published until 100 years after his death. (And kudos to the publishing world for respecting his wishes!)

Anxiously awaiting volume 3. ( )

More stream of consciousness than standard autobiography, this was dictated by Twain a few years before he died. It includes his reaction to news items of the day, memories of his adventures and of the people he had known, philosophical musings, and excerpts from the biography his young daughter worked on for a few years. Twain is blunt and humorous, though some of his musings would not fit well in the political correctness of our time. Still, there is nothing here that is unkind, and Twain is as hard on himself as on nearly anyone else (with the possible exception of a couple of politicians). Overall a good read, prepare to laugh, and be forewarned: Twain planned for this to not be published until 100 years after his death, so he took off the gloves on a couple of things he was usually a bit gentler on, such as religion. His description of the Old Testament God could have been written by Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens. Reading Twain, in fact, is like reading Hitchens, Vonnegut, Will Rogers, and James Thurber all rolled into one. ( )