Interesting read. Makes good points regarding the foolishness of organized religion. Humans trying to justify their existence. Humans the most evil species on the planet. They over populate, use up all the resources and are in the process of destroying the planet. Most likely they will destroy themselves and the planet will recover. (Observations from an alien observer.)

I thought I might be a kangaroo, but it must be a new species because she keeps calling it Adam...

Hahahahahahaha.

Oh Samuel Clemens, where are you now? Your blasphemy is a gift to the world.

I think that rather than the Biblical references, the real selling point of this book is it's collection of unpublished and obscure works by Mark Twain. It's a must have for any collector.

This is a collection of Mark Twain's satirical writings on the Bible. Some of them are unfinished and others are relatively unknown. They range from clever mockery (Letters From Earth) to romantic tragedy (The Diaries of Adam and Eve).

My one complaint about this book is that it tries to do too much. Mark Twain addressed the Bible and Christianity in almost every work he produced, so the title of this book is a little drab. Mark Twain mocking the Bible? So what else is new?

These are some of Twain's best stories.
He's laugh-out-loud irrevrent.

I find it amusing that modern day atheists are so quick to claim certain personages to their own- like Twain, Jefferson, and Paine. The evidence to me from reading this shows that Twain might have been super-critical of the dominant US religion, but by no means is he claiming no God exists. Rather, he seems to be criticizing the inequities, the inconsistencies with reality, and the closeminded-ness of the typical believer of his time. For in one of the final entries of this well-addended book he complains about "the God we all Know" as compared to "the God of the Bible." That, to me, is no refutation of the idea of a Creator. But then these same modern day atheists know so little (and have read so little) of either Twain, or of Hitler, that they claim Twain was a pure atheist (rather than an uncommitted agnostic) and that Hitler was "a Christian" although the evidence of Hitler's life posits the fact it could only have been in a nominal fashion.
I guess I'll just say it this way- all modern atheists are just people who haven't dropped enough psychedelics. Tell it to the good Dr. Hofmann. (They would do well by reading him, as well). And as I say, I've yet to meet any "Native American" atheists, either.
A personal experience of something larger and wider than one's own consciousness, yet encompassing it, can really be the only way to measure such a subjective assumption. And proving God does not exist is rather like saying Love does not. You cannot SEE Love, but who can claim it does not exist? Or that it exists solely as an invention of the human mind? So I think it is in terms of the Deity. Twain was as right on as Lenny Bruce was, for his time, in exposing socio-religious hypocrisies. And we can value him for that reason, whether Believer or Not.

Very witty. If you like satire, this book is for you. Curious would probably be the best word to describe it.

Although this book is structured more for the Mark Twain scholar, it's a must-read for any fan of Twain. And if you're not a fan of Twain, you probably don't have full neuronal connectivity going on upstairs. His essays on the Genesis story, Heaven and the relationship between God and humankind are pure wit, elucidation, and laugh out-loud funny. If you're not rethinking the Bible after reading this collection, you are too far gone for wisdom and logic to reach you.

Some standouts for me included, "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven," "Letters from the Earth," and Twain's thoughts on God as described in the Bible. The back cover quote from Sean Kelly captures, with succinct wisdom, the truth of this collection when he states, "Mark Twain appears to have actually read the Bible, thus gaining a sinfully unfair advantage over its many adherents and defenders."

It's a damn shame that Mark Twain is not around today. We need his intelligent humor, cutting satire and logical now more than ever. These essays are material I will turn to again and again for inspiration with my own writing. Thank you, Mark Twain and thank you to Professors Baetzhold and McCullough. I'm sure you're all having a drink and some laughs wherever you are now.

Presents a different outlook!

Worth getting for The Diaries of Adam and Eve, Letters from Earth, and a couple other stories, but most of the book is of interest only to people doing a very in depth study of his writing.

Creative satire: like diaries of Adam and Eve; fav: Adam's Soliloquy.

The most hilarious, logical, masterful book on criticizing Christianity and the abrahamic religions in general. After finishing this book it was settled, I couldn't ever again look at any religion in another way.
It's very well-built and logical and I think anyone who at least doesn't appreciate this book is either ignorant or too offended by it.
P.S. I am a believer, and I don't think this book in any way advocates Atheism because Atheism itself is just another religion.
The portrayal of 'God' according to strictly biblical references really made this book "untouchable"

Pretty much the most clear-headed opinion on Biblical matters I've ever read.