A Century Later Autobiography

AIR DATE: July 7, 2010

Mark Twain's Autobiography Set for Unveiling, a Century After His Death

SUMMARY

Mark Twain's autobiography is set to be published for the first time, 100 years after the famous author and humorist's death. Correspondent Spencer Michels reports on the effort to edit and publish his century-old manuscript.

Snip

HARRIET ELINOR SMITH, editor, Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume I (Mark Twain Papers): There is one notable thing about our Christianity: bad, bloody, merciless, money-grabbing, and predatory. The invention of hell measured by our Christianity of today, bad as it is, hypocritical as it is, empty and hollow as it is, neither the deity nor his son is a Christian, nor qualified for that moderately high place. Ours is a terrible religion. The fleets of the world could swim in spacious comfort in the innocent blood it has spilled."

That would have been considered very shocking in his day. Transcript

Very interesting and his thoughts then, on issues, could be brought right into the present!