A book I return to, but always disappointingly so. Twain's questioning of Christian stupidity is always healthy and useful; this is over-reaching but worth the look.

The book Mark Twain had to wait 100 years to publish.

"Tomorrow I mean to dictate a chapter which will get my heirs & assigns burnt alive if they venture to print it this side of 2006 A.D. — which I judge they won't. There'll be lots of such chapters if I live 3 or 4 years longer. The edition of A.D. 2006 will make a stir when it comes out."

I found the book to be quite irreverent and to be honest, it sometimes bothered me. But I hope the irreverence was toward man thinking he knows how "life" is in Heaven. I enjoyed his stories about the harps, halos and wings. I'm surprised he didn't address the golden streets. Obviously, no one knows or can even imagine what Heaven would be like as the Bible says that the mind of man cannot comprehend the things of God. That being said, I agree with Twain in that it sounds a bit boring to go around singing the same song for eternity - what a roar that would be, would hurt one's eardrums. But then since my mind can't comprehend what it's like, I guess it's okay for us to make fun of ourselves and our interpretations.

While the editors' notes did explain the background, I quickly became bored with them, and already read the Diaries of Adam and Eve. In my opinion, the Letters From the Earth weren't quite as interesting as the section Heaven.

My, Clemens sounds so bitter! You have to wonder why.

Most of these stories have appeared in other publications; a few have not,
perhaps because they really aren't as good as his usual productions.

It's Mark Twain. At some points side-splittingly funny, at other points caustically bitter, sometimes prudish, sometimes ribald, and always filled with crystalline insight. Never a man to suffer fools or foolishness in any sense, much less gladly, Twain takes on Christians and Christianity with brutal doses of logic and realism. He exposes the God of the Bible for what he is: a genocidal lunatic who makes Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin look like a pair of rank amateurs. He asks how anyone could think a deity that obsessively kills people by the millions and whose ultimate goal is to kill us all and send most of us to Hell could possibly be considered a "loving father." Good luck answering that one in the affirmative without exposing yourself for a fool.

Fortunately it's not all anger. Fired by scientific discoveries of his time - particularly in astronomy - and fueled by the Deism of Thomas Paine, Twain conceives of a God that one could accept as existent without surrendering all pretense of logic.

If this book were required reading for all American high school students, Christianity wouldn't survive another generation.

Not that good. If you Ate going to read it, I suggest reading only The Letters from Earth section.

Some good bits here and there, but unless you are particularly interested in everything Clemens wrote about religion, regardless of whether he thought it was publishable or not, then you're probably better off just finding some of his better stuff online.

required reading for every southerner who wants to truly know god... my all-time favorite line ever written was taken from this book. an inscription on eve's gravestone: "wheresoever she dwelt, there was eden." a master at his prime.

Wonderfully witty! Twain was a genius!

I adore this man. Oh how we need him now.

This was school reading for me at some point in high school. I'm not particularly a very religious person, so I thought this book was absolutely hilarious. While it is amusing, some bits are a tad serious as well. I think everyone would find things to like in this collection of Mark Twain's writings and opinions. Good on ya, Samuel Clemens!

Very difficult read. Comical and interesting thoughts, but some disconnect.