I had higher hopes for Mark Twain's Satanism than this but oh well. At least it moves on at a good clip, and at least in the early parts the atheism is carried forward with sardonic good humor. But there's nothing much here to surprise the modern reader, and when Twain tries to offer something up in the place of traditional institutions all he seems to have for us is cheap solipsism. ( )

Un ouvrage étrange, le dernier livre de mark Twain, on y retrouve un humour ravageur, un amour de l'enfance, une haine du prêt à penser et des extrémismes. Il se moque allégrement de la religion, des syndicats, du pouvoir. Il touche à l'inconscient. Enfin et ce n'est pas le moindre des paradoxes, il fait de la science fiction. N° 44 voyage dans le temps et il est indestructible. Certains passages iraient pile poil dans une oeuvre de boulgakov. D'autres sont très proche d'une expérience onirique ou plutôt de paradis artificiels.
C'est un texte étrange, pas facile à lire, mais au final plaisant car il explore pas mal de genre. Un bon moment. ( )

This is an extraordinary book, and kudos are due to the folks at the Bancroft Library who have rescued this work from posthumous prevaricators. It is a strange work, part Medieval (think Connecticut Yankee), part postmodern (think Zelig) -- a world in which doppelgangers and minstrels mix in strange and peculiar epiphany. There is nothing else like it -- one last shot over the bow. ( )

Dark. Written toward the end of Twain's life. He had lost everything but fame. Better read when I was younger. ( )