Excellent satire on several aspects of the Bible and Christianity (but mainly the Creation myth and the afterlife). The works seem (to me, at least) almost to be organized from the most innocuous (those that merely create amusing/charming stories based around events from the Bible) to the more acerbic and harsh critiques against Christianity. "Letters from the Earth" has to be the most vicious (and, at times, hilarious) satire of mainline Christianity that I've read. It had me grinning from ear to ear at times.

Some of the passages around the middle of the book are a bit of a slog to get through (thus, the four stars instead of five), but I still highly recommend this for fans of clever stories and biting satirical essays, particularly those of a religious nature. I also must confess that this is the only Twain that I've read, short of an autobiographical work by Samuel Clemmons about his work on a boat that I read in college.

Funny and makes you wonder a lot about the current days. But… it doesn’t go beyond that, sometimes becomes boring.

This is for yet another book that I proofread this year that has yet to make it's way onto Goodreads. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Interesting look at heaven and creation story--humorous at points but not really 'biblical' (didn't read all of 'letters from earth' which is much darker and frank with Twain's frustration with the Bible)

Twain is excellent. I did not like the way this book was compiled and formatted.

Bored with the background info...but Adam and Eve's diaries are fun.

Too easy to put down, because it includes a lot of unfinished, unpolished work. I'm sure there's more in there that I'd like, but I'm not going to look for it. Time to move on!

I was expecting to find curmudgeonly skepticism but I was saddened and disappointed to learn that Sam Clemens was quite antisemitic.

OK, but not as good as I had hoped.

Vraiment très drôle!

The subtitle to this volume is an apt description of this collection. This is a collection of interesting and insightful writing on topics relating to Christian faith and belief. Twain, a Presbyterian, provides satire in the first two sections, and a critical analysis of some Christian doctrine in the third section, "Letters from the Earth." The fourth section is a rather lengthy Appendix, followed by a detailed Notes section and Works Cited, that provides even further writings pertaining to these subjects, some being alternate editions of works printed, while others were unpublished writings and dictations for his autobiography. It is worthwhile to read the appendix, especially six through eight.

The first section, "Eden and the Flood," is composed mainly of the various "Diaries" of Adam and Eve. Excellent satire that is more about Twain's contemporary society than the Biblical stories, these have been previously published. Here is a review I wrote after reading them a few years back: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... The writings dealing with the Flood were interesting, and foreshadow Twain's views expressed in the third section.

The second section, "Heaven," is comprised of satires that poke fun at people's idea of what Heaven is really like, applying logic and reason where they were previously neglected. This is quite easily the most amusing portion of this book.

The third section, "Letters from Earth," is commentary regarding Christian theology and doctrine. Twain approaches these beliefs with a critical mind, which brings to light the logical fallacies that pepper them. Twain, being a Christian and not an atheist, exemplifies how one is supposed to approach such theological questions. He shows fellow believers how ridiculous a literal interpretation of Scripture is, and why certain assumptions don't hold up to critical analysis. He poses questions, but provides no answers. This theme is further explored in Appendix Eight.

This is an academic read for scholars of Twain and American Literature, that includes previously published and unpublished works. It would be an excellent textbook for an upper division college course, or an interesting read for those who read academic volumes for pleasure or hobby.

Having already read (and taught) Letters from Earth, I picked up this volume mainly for the writings from the perspective of Eve. It is such a shame that these are not more widely read! In fact, I believe they should be added right into the Old Testament cannon, woven into that already amalgamated collection. How are those entries not sheer revelation?!

I laughed out loud several times when Twain narrates from Eve's innocent and curious POV. In addition to being an entertaining narrative and thought experiment, the Eve entries also lampoon several logical fallacies present in literal interpretations of early Jewish mythology.

Twain started to lose me a bit with the Mad Philosopher entries, but I would still highly recommend this volume for the Eve content and Letters from Earth. The editorial commentary is also very helpful for putting these writings into the context of Twain's life and evolving beliefs.

I love Mark Twain even more after reading this. His take on Christianity/religion is spot-on. Some of the stories were rough or unfinished, but it was interesting to glimpse into his writing process. Some of the editor's notes were a little tedious because I wasn't very interested in which publisher wanted a re-write, etc. On the whole, the book is very worthwhile.