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Mark Twain
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Letters From The Earth Paperback – June 7, 2010

by Mark Twain (Author)

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Letters from the Earth is one of Mark Twain's posthumously published works. The essays were written during a difficult time in Twain's life; he was deep in debt and had lost his wife and one of his daughters. The book consists of a series of short stories, many of which deal with God and Christianity. Twain penned a series of letters from the point-of-view of a dejected angel on Earth. This title story consists of letters written by the archangel Satan to archangels, Gabriel and Michael, about his observations on the curious proceedings of earthly life and the nature of man's religions. By analyzing the idea of heaven and God that is widely accepted by those who believe in both, Twain is able to take the silliness that is present and study it with the common sense that is absent. Not so much an attack as much as a cold dissection. Other short stories in the book include a bedtime story about a family of cats Twain wrote for his daughters, and an essay explaining why an anaconda is morally superior to Man. Twain's writings in Letters From the Earth find him at perhaps his most quizzical and questioning state ever.
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  1. Print length
    52 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    June 7, 2010
  4. Dimensions
    6.14 x 0.12 x 9.21 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1617430064
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1617430060
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Greenbook Publications, LLC
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 7, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 52 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1617430064
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1617430060
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.21 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.12 x 9.21 inches
  • Best Sellers Rank: #1,749,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Mark Twain

Mark Twain

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Mark Twain is the pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 - 1910). He was born and brought up in the American state of Missouri and, because of his father's death, he left school to earn his living when he was only twelve. He was a great adventurer and travelled round America as a printer; prospected for gold and set off for South America to earn his fortune. He returned to become a steam-boat pilot on the Mississippi River, close to where he had grown up. The Civil War put an end to steam-boating and Clemens briefly joined the Confederate army - although the rest of his family were Unionists! He had already tried his hand at newspaper reporting and now became a successful journalist. He started to use the alias Mark Twain during the Civil War and it was under this pen name that he became a famous travel writer. He took the name from his steam-boat days - it was the river pilots' cry to let their men know that the water was two fathoms deep.

Mark Twain was always nostalgic about his childhood and in 1876 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published, based on his own experiences. The book was soon recognised as a work of genius and eight years later the sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was published. The great writer Ernest Hemingway claimed that 'All modern literature stems from this one book.'

Mark Twain was soon famous all over the world. He made a fortune from writing and lost it on a typesetter he invented. He then made another fortune and lost it on a bad investment. He was an impulsive, hot-tempered man but was also quite sentimental and superstitious. He was born when Halley's Comet was passing the Earth and always believed he would die when it returned - this is exactly what happened.

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Ellen Coulton
    5.0 out of 5 stars Truth, Reality & Humorous Sarcasm
    Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2024
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    This is one of those books that unexpectedly surprise readers with its spot-on truth presented
    with humor & sarcasm. And the best part is that it's written by Mark Twain.
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  • Amy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Religious beliefs are fiction
    Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2025
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    Having been raised a Catholic, it opened my mind to face the questions I kept to myself. It gave me all the answers I needed! Religion is a joke.
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  • Stanley C. Sargent
    4.0 out of 5 stars Some Wonderfully Frank Talk of Religion and a Hell of a Lot More
    Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2014
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    I was overwhelmed by the amount of material in this edition. The author would not allow it to be published until after his demise as he launches a full-blown attack on the literal interpretation of the BIBLE and people who take it all as God's own truth. He's ruthless and often hilarious in the actual "Letters ..." section, which is a small part of this tome. Also included are his takes on what Methuselah, Adam and Eve, and others might have written in their diaries. I really enjoyed the "Letters ..." section, but I began skimming after that. It's all there for the sake of completeness, but I couldn't make it through the last 3/4 of the text. I love the author and his humor, and I tend to agree with most of his views, but enough is enough. Had this been published when he was alive, he'd have been declared Public Enemy #1 by anyone truly invested in the literal interpretation of the Old Testament and some of the New Testament.

    Satan's letters to his fellow angels about how people on Earth view God, Heaven, and Hell are so right-on that it makes one wonder that people could ever believe in much of it. Twain/Clemens was an agnostic who became bitter about religion after the tragic deaths of all but one of his immediate family (and that one, a daughter, shunned him for many years). His philosophy ran along the lines of (to paraphrase him), if you want good weather go to Heaven, but if you want good companionship, hell would be a better destination. His picture of a god who sits on a throne enjoying the endless singing and harp playing praises of the ever-growing population of heaven while totally ignoring all of the prayers of the living is very frank, explicit, hilarious and also a bit chilling when one considers how many people pray they will be accepted into the flock of songsters and harp-players when they die.
    17 people found this helpful
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  • JPC
    5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth reading. It shouldn't take long, because it's short.
    Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2015
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    Excellent work. Funny for the first half; less so when he launches into his valid critique of the Noah story. But, still very insightful and a reasonable critique of a simply awful, barbarous ancient obvious myth (Noah is purported to be a plagiarism of The Epic of Gilgamesh, and I've read that all ancient religions have flood myths.).

    If you liked this, you should read Thomas Paine's *Age of Reason* (available for free on the web). It's not funny like this, but it's a powerful early American indictment of Christianity from one of the Founding Fathers (who isn't considered a FF by a lot of jerks because of his "blasphemy.")

    I was interested to see that this is presented similarly to *The Screwtape Letters,* by Christian apologist C. S. Lewis, and takes the form of Satan writing letters to (I forget who.). But, in Screwtape, the mockery is reserved for the blasphemers and unbelievers. I wonder if whoever wrote the latter work was aware of the existence of the one that was written first. I tried to find out by Googling, but came up bupkiss.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Luc REYNAERT
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Satanic Letters about the Descent of Man
    Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2013
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    Mark Twain unveils in these uncensored writings sarcastically his outspoken views on man, religion, politics and human civilization.

    Man
    Mark Twain exhorts all men on earth: `each of you must for yourself alone decide what is right or wrong.'
    Unfortunately, man's intelligence is limited. His irrationalism is blatantly exposed by the population explosion. Mark Twain sees at the horizon an earth burdened by 50 billion people! Another example: (the Christian) man `thinks he thinks.' But, look at his heaven: he `has entirely left out the one ecstasy that stands foremost in the heart of every individual ... sexual intercourse.'
    Spiritually, man's `disastrous Moral Sense is the parent of all the immoralities. It enables him to distinguish good from evil, and, necessarily, to do wrong.' Materially, man is `but a basket of pestilent corruption provided for the entertainment of swarming armies of bacilli - armies to rot and destroy him.' Concerning his character, its main traits are `hypocrisy, envy, malice, cruelty, vengefulness, seduction, rape, robbery, swindling, arson and the oppression and humiliation of the poor and the helpless. Many men who have accumulated more millions of money than they can ever use, have shown a rabid hunger for more.'

    Religion
    Of course, `man is the only religious animal.' But, for Mark Twain, he is, moreover, `the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself, and cut his throat if his theology isn't straight.' `When the Lord God of Heaven and Earth goes to war, he is totally without mercy for both sexes and all ages.'
    For Mark Twain, `the Old Testament is interested mainly in blood and sensuality. The New One in Salvation by fire.' In the fall of Adam and Eve, `the serpent said the forbidden fruit would store their vacant minds with knowledge; whereas the priest, God's representative, had made it his business to keep them from knowing any useful thing.'
    More cynically, God, `Our Father perceived that death was a mistake; it allowed the dead person to escape all further persecution. (Therefore,) he invented hell.

    Politics
    In Mark Twain's republic, `it is the common voice of the people who is the Country.' But, the elected government was (is) irrevocably in the hands of the prodigiously rich and their hangers-on. There was (is) no patriotism but of the pocket.' Look at war: `we are now entering upon an unjust and trivial war against a helpless people, and for a base object - robbery.'

    Civilization
    For Mark Twain, civilization should be `morally, the evil passions repressed and the level of conduct raised; spiritually, idols cast down and God enthroned; materially, bread and fair treatment for the greatest number.'
    But, human civilization replaced these visions with money-fever, sordid ideals, vulgar ambition, turning useless luxuries into necessities.' It is organized for keeping `the sheep docile and usable; for electing purchasable legislatures and city governments which rob the town and sell municipal protection to gamblers, thieves, prostitutes and professional seducers for cash.'

    These biting, vitriolic texts about the Descent (not the Ascent) of man from the higher (not the lower) Animals have lost nothing of their topicality.
    Where are the Mark Twains of today? There are not many: sunt rari nantes in gurgite vasto (= our world).
    These texts are a must read for all lovers of world literature.
    9 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Jörg Schwager
    5.0 out of 5 stars Immer noch aktuell.
    Reviewed in Germany on December 20, 2012
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    Ich wußte nicht, wie tiefsinnig, informativ und amüsant Mark Twain schrieb. Schade, dass es dieses kleine Meisterwerk auf deutsch nicht gedruckt gibt, sondern nur im Internet unter [...].
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  • W. B.
    5.0 out of 5 stars superb--
    Reviewed in Canada on March 23, 2019
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    he never wrote anything that wasn't brilliant--this is an absolutely great piece of his mind at work--love or hate it--depending on your point of view it is again freakin' brilliant--
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended book
    Reviewed in Spain on September 24, 2017
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    It's a wonderful book, written with humour, provocative and really entertaining. I highly recommend this book to everyone but also to whoever can understand the difference between faith and fairytales.
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  • Iwona Piasecka
    5.0 out of 5 stars Witty and funny take on religious.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2021
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    Witty. Satan used to have it all, but he said one or two things too many and God had enough and sent him to Earth. From there, Satan writes letters to his brothers in Heaven, reporting about human way of living, loving and believing. It's quite funny to read Mark Twain's take on religion and beliefs.
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  • Ifalna Rosier
    5.0 out of 5 stars 2 for the price of one
    Reviewed in Canada on August 26, 2021
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    The whole book is there, twice. Lol. Came on time.
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