The Humor of Mark Twain (Great Authors Series) [Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Mark Twain (Author), Thomas Becker (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1999 | Series: Great Authors Series

Hardbound in a collector's library-style, gold-embossed album are six audio cassettes of unabridged narrations of 22 of Twain's best tall tales, stories and essays: The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, What Stumped the Bluejays, The Story of the Old Ram, Journalism in Tennessee, A Genuine Mexican Plug, Buck Fanshaw's Funeral, The Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut, Extract From Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven, Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses, The Art of Authorship. Includes extensive liner notes on author and works.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-From "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" to "The Burglar Alarm," Thomas Becker's delivery of Mark Twain's stories will delight and amuse listeners. Becker, a Shakespearean actor, adopts a slight Midwestern twang, which creates a highly enjoyable and credible presentation, as though the author himself were reading his own work. There are no sound effects or music between the stories, and the writer's own words carry the presentation. For the most part, this recording's success is the result of Becker's dramatic reading ability, which is nicely understated yet totally effective and appropriate. The other stories included here are: "The Story of the Old Ram," "What Stumped the Blue Jays," "Tom Quartz," "Cannibalism in the Cars," "The Facts in the Great Beef Contract," "Journalism in Tennessee, "Punch, Brothers, Punch," and "The McWilliamses with Membranous Group." The double-CD set is attractively packaged in a fold-out case with the CDs enclosed in plastic envelopes. There is no biographical information on the reader, and chronological information for each story is omitted as well. Nevertheless, these stories are among Twain's finest and are sure to please students rediscovering a piece of American heritage. Teachers will find this high quality recording a useful tool for introducing the work of a truly remarkable author to a new generation.
Celeste Steward, Contra Costa County Library, Clayton, CA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Read by Thomas Becker whose narrations have been acclaimed by The Society of Performance Literature as "the best Twain on the Market". Produced by Commuters Library, awarded AUDIO BEST OF THE YEAR for four straight years (Publishers Weekly, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996).

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Commuters Library; Unabridged edition (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883049725
• ISBN-13: 978-1883049720
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 9.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,061,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Books on Cassette > Authors, A-Z > ( T ) > Twain, Mark

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Capture, April 22, 2005

By 

Seymour Glass "Seymour Glass" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Humor of Mark Twain (Audio CD)

The narrator perfectly captures the western personality and expression of these pieces. Surely the greatest possible narration of the Twain's Humor.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Becker is great, sound quality is ok, too bad its not on CD., January 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Humor of Mark Twain (Great Authors Series) (Audio Cassette)

It is difficult to appreciate a short story that is filled with sentences of one long word after another. However, Becker's reading of Twain makes it flow together so well that you just have to laugh out loud. Jounalism in Tennesse and Political Economy come to mind as I imagine that Lightning Rod Salesman just carrying on and the young editor trying to be impressive with his suave article which is later ripped to shreds by the author. How I Edited the Agricultural Paper was grand and I listened to it several times finding it funnier each time.