Chapters from My Autobiography

Beginning in 1906, Clemens dictated a long and complex autobiographical manuscript. He published selected chapters from this extensive dictation in the North American Review, in 26 installments, and it is this version that is published here. He reflects on his childhood, ponders his career as a writer, and recalls the joy and the pain of being a husband and a father.

Riverboat pilot, journalist, failed businessman (several times over): Samuel Clemens -- the man behind the figure of Mark Twain -- led many lives. But it was in his novels and short stories that he created a voice and an outlook on life that will be forever identified with the American character.