Coffee with Mark Twain

Coffee with...

by Fred Kaplan, Jay McInerney (Foreword)

Mark Twain shaped our view of childhood, the frontier spirit, slavery, and humankind’s follies and pretensions. Revel now in his caustic wit, tall tales, and colorfully expressed opinions, all told to a distinguished professor and biographer. This master of repartee regales us with stories about his many different guises, from humorist to riverboat pilot to inventor of the self-pasting photograph album.  

144 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2008

Reviews

[Suad Shamma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like that the format of these biographies is written in an interview Q&A style with the author himself. It's unique and interesting and it feels nice to get a glimpse of what these people might have been like or sounded like had they still been with us today.

Mark Twain is definitely an interesting character and I grew up reading Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, so it was really nice to hear about his history and how those characters were formed.

I did find many parts of his life boring, however. He didn't keep me interested, and some sections were a struggle to get through.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick little book written in form of interview with Mark Twain. Though I’m familiar with and have read the famous works by Twain, when I was much younger, I knew little about him. This was a quick primer into his life, childhood, youth, careers, marriage, proclivities, persona etc. covered a lot of ground in a short book, you really did come away with an idea of the man, who he was, and what he believed in. Really enjoyed this brief foray into his life and thoughts. Does encourage me to go back and reread his works understanding how much more he was saying in his work and not simply story telling, would be far more meaningful now.

[Mason Yeater · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I found a new favorite series.

This is only the first book but I expect to be on the look out for others to check out. And I found it a goodwill?

Though these aren’t truly Mark Twain’s words, they are from his thought, teaching, writings, and from his general life. It’s written well enough that I wished this could have been a reality that I got to peak in and watch.

It’s a good short read but it is far from simple. It’s not deep driven philosophy but you’ll want to chew on these words, especially Twain’s last remark to the interviewer drinking imaginary coffee.

“Coffee With Mark Twain”

[Leew49 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise of this book is an imaginary conversation with Mark Twain in which Twain's remarks are drawn from his real-life writing and sayings. A 21st Century model might be telling ChatBot to answer your questions in Twain's voice. Either way, the result makes fascinating reading. Twain was in many respects a man out of and ahead of his time. His views on religion, politics, slavery, American society and human nature are both entertaining and surprising in a man who lived during the 19th Century. Be prepared to want to read more of Twain's original work.

[Virginia B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t realize this is one of a series of famous people fake interviews. Brief insights and quotes, which I must say, expose Mark Twain’s complacency and I’m-always-rightness. But it was fun to read, and a good overview of his life.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the interviewer / subject Q&A style of the book prefaced by bits of history regarding Mark Twain's life!

[Laura Verret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Twain has got to be among the Top Five most epigrammatic individuals of all time. Props to Fred Kaplan for capturing Twain’s quippy spirit in this playful exploration of Twain’s life and works.

[Mandi Lucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this book was fictional it was still good and I forgot I was reading.

[Joanna’s Reading Rainbow · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It was an interesting guess at what Twain would have answered during this imaginary interview.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read about the life and philosophy of Mark Twain. Curiously written as a dialogue between Twain and his interviewer, the book offers a fictional look into the responses from one of America's greatest literary figures. It is informative, poignant and entertaining albeit fictional.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent brief re-cap of MT's life and career - worth at least two reads just because he was such a quotable, interesting character. Also a good roadmap of all his works for those interested in investigating more from his full catalogue.

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this fun little bio of Twain at Elliot Bay Books in Seattle. A nice review of Twain's life set as an interview with the author.

[Jason Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun brief book. Great read for a trip.