But not that good either. This book contains writings that were all attempted after Mark Twain was over 70 years old and after his daughter had died. The majority of the book is composed of incomplete manuscripts, some of which are highly amusing. Most of the stories here start out the same way . . . he tries to get a story going which is gloomy, defeatest, and which ends in disaster. But Twain's natural sense of vigour always gets in the way and st a critical point, the stories tend to take a different turn than he had intended, thus he abaondons them. There are some interesting stories here. One of them includes the story of a slave who, through craft, turns the tables on his white master (named George Harrison, oddly enough!) and enslaves him, which is a rather interesting thought for those modern critics who continually chastise Twain as a racist. A few polemical pieces are included which are bound to irritate the Christians -- not all of these are gloomy, however, as the editor seems to think Twain intended them -- he obviously enjoys his heretical antics a great deal. Although this collection did not really impress me that much, there are several pices of writing here in which Twain shines like he has in few other works. A social statement on the Natie Americans and on growing old are also included. Although not for everybody, fans of Samuel Clemens will find this book a rare treat.

As a lazy philosopher in search of a belief system, I found this book exceptionally provocative, if occaisionally irritating. I'm generally not a fan of compilations, particularly when many of the pieces are unfinished manuscripts. However, it was wonderful to see so many of my own half-formed questions given an eloquent voice. The beauty of these writings is that though Twain/Clemmens pokes fun at or denounces the futility of the human struggle and our attempts to understand, he never gives in to his own dark thoughts. Throughout it all there is an undercurrent of hope. Contradictory, yes, but well worth look.

Andrew Hoffman is to Mark Twain what Albert Goldman was to Lenny Bruce, John Lennon and Elvis Presley-- which is to say a parasitical graverobber who projects his own weirdness onto his subject.

There are way too many legitimate biographies of Clemens for this book to be taken seriously.

Q: If you are writing a biography of a famous author, using recycled material, what can you add to make it sell anyway? A: Claim that the author was gay! (Some people say that you could add insight, but Mr. Hoffman disagrees). Hoffman bases his assumption of homosexuality on the following "evidence": 1. Mark Twain had very close male friends. 2. Mark Twain lived with his male friends. 3. Mark Twain went on road trips with his male friends. (Fraternity brothers beware, Hoffman is coming after you next!) This is just another example of people who don't want to do their research. I'm sure Hoffman looked a lot at the life of Samuel Clemens, but it seems he didn't do his background material. Many, many people from this era are assumed gay because of the extremely affectionate letters they wrote to their same-sex friends. Guess what? That's just the way they wrote. There are better biographies out there, and they're not too hard to find.

This book is captivating from cover to cover. I highly recomend it not only for the subject matter but also for serious students of social history of the 19th Century. The author really did his research.

John Halperin takes Lytton Strachey as his model and provides four short lives of people he views as emblematic of the "second Georgian" era - King Geroge V himself, Elizabeth Bowen, St. John Philby and Nancy Astor. The results are interesting without being particularly memorable. Halperin tells his stories in a plain documentary fashion, without much analysis and with none of the mordant wit or strong opinions of Strachey's nasty little classic. Such a straightforward approach works best if bolsered by extensive research, but the slim bibliography indicates a newspaper profile rather than an original and insightful work. All this being said, Bowen, Philby and Astor are interesting enough as people to making reading "Eminent Georgians" worthwhile. As for the good King George, it will take a much more persuasive writer to bring that admirable but dull monarch to life on the page.

This is a little silly story about a man who has a rather humorous betting habit and focuses on the account of some bets he placed with a highly talented jumping-frog that he owned.

The story is not half bad and I understand that it became quite popular and was one of the first writings to bring Twain into the limelight. Even so, I do not feel that story - short as it is - stands the test of time as do other writings of Mark Twain. Don't be fooled though, the story is a nice quick and light read, especially if you want to divert your attention from the lull of boredom or any other times of inactivity.

I've decided to renew my interest in Mark Twain, having read and enjoyed "Roughing It". I found out that this was Twain's first success, and decided to give it a try. It's a very short, amusing and enjoyable story that adults should be able get through in a matter of minutes, and I should imagine that kids would enjoy: but I would not recommend experimenting on the local amphibia to test the veracity of Twain's story!