Extracts From Noah's Diary

by Martin Bodek

A century ago, a little known writer named Mark Twain wrote a silly novella called Extracts from Adam’s Diary. It imagined the recorded daily life of the first man. Two years later, Mr. Twain’s wife passed away, and he wrote a melancholy follow-up with Eve as the imagined diarist. Together, these stories were published as The Diaries of Adam & Eve.

A century later, a well known writer named Martin Bodek enjoyed the books, discovered that Twain left the concept for another to pick up where he left off, and decided to give it a try.

Yes, he's that arrogant, he's written a sequel for Mark Twain.

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 17, 2015

About the author

Martin Bodek is co-founder of TheKnish.com - a Jewish version of The Onion. He is the beat reporter for JrunnersClub.org, an emerging Brooklyn-based organization for athletes. He researches surnames for Jewishworldreview.com (e-mail onsurnames@gmail.com with yours and he'll do the legwork for you!). He has been writing freelance for more than 15 years for The Denver Post, The Washington Times, The Jewish Press, bangitout.com and other sites and media outlets as well as Germany's only weekly Jewish newspaper, The Judische Allgemeine. He was born and raised in the wilds of Brooklyn, New York, has worked most of his life in the badlands of New York City and settled in the jungles of northern New Jersey with his strong wife and three above average children. As you can tell, he wants to be a writer if and when he grows up.

Reviews

[MKF · Rating 1 out of 5]

First of All this is not a sequel to Mark Twain as mentioned in the description. The author even says the idea was his own in the introduction. That is the whole reason I got this book.
Second I was hoping for a more humorous read. The author's idea of humor was not only flat but included listing random mythical, fantasy, and fictional characters from role playing games, films, etc. After getting off the ark it was more a drawn out history of Noah's life.
I was really hoping to like this book but it wasn't for me

[Eli Mandel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a lot of random thoughts related to this fun book so I'll just drop them in random order. I'm not as organized as Noah, I can't pair things up carefully.

Unlike Mark Twain's "Extracts", Bodek gives us Noah's full diary.
Similar to Jonathan Goldstein's Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible! and the OMGWTFBIBLE project (Google it, I'm too lazy to write HTML now), retelling the Bible in the vernacular is fun but it get old after awhile. 42,000 words is awhile.
Where are the jokes in this book?:
The book is written from a very self-aware Noah, who is also aware of how he will look to readers thousands of years away. So some of the humor comes in the form of putting modern slang into Noah's mouth, some comes from Noah's reflection on the impossibility of the situation he's describing. The problem is it's hard to see Noah playing both roles; it's like having George Washington's diary entry say "Today I chopped the old man's cherry tree. Boy was he pissed!Decided to tell the truth even though it resulted in an historic hiding. I know this may sound ridiculous but I have delusions of grandeur and I expect children to be inspired by my inspired example 300 years from now. Delusional, I know."
Twain, to my mind, engaged in an entirely different project: he assumed the reader's knowledge of the subject and only gave a select treatment, limiting himself to a few jokes on the concepts.
Bodek did an impressive amount of research for this book, starting with a careful search through the Twain canon for any mention of Noah or his diary. While reading the Extracts I was reminded of a stray mention MT makes of Noah and his ark. It's in a little article called "Launch of the Steamer "Capital". You'll have to Google that, too.
In the spirit of Mark Twain, I would have substituted the Dr. Seuss quote in the introduction for these, from Twain: "eschew surplusage" and (I'm sorry, it's late at night and I cannot remember the second one verbatim so I'll skip it, plus I'm inclined, at this hour, to eschew surplusage)
Yiddy Lebovitz! So nice to see him here!
Bodek clearly had a blast writing this book. I'm very, very jealous of him.
I found 2 typos. Volunteer editor #2 should get a pay reduction on the next project.
I'm reminded of the old hasidic tale of the rebbe who told his chassid to bring the animals into his house so that on their eviction the living quarters would take on a very roomy feel. After suffering through Hurricane Sandy then immersing himself in Noah's Ark literature, Bodek must feel very relieved that his house never became the teivah for a year and forty days.
It's incredible to think about how long Noah lived, he witnessed more spectacular events than Methusaleh, and Abram kept him in the loop with periodic visits and letters right up to the end. This thought inspires the last Twainism for the night: " I lay you’ll be the Methusalem-numskull of creation before ever I ask you"


Overall I enjoyed the book very much, and really appreciate the author's taking the time to do this research and giving it to us for the price of three coffees.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the writer of this book, and its editor, I read my manuscript from front to back at least 9 times, so this certainly qualifies as a book I've read in the past year, which I can add to my tally. I also probably have a responsibility to officially review it - nay, perhaps an obligation, because im ain ani li me li? (if I'm not for myself, who will be for me?)

Having said that, I'll say simply that I'm awfully proud of my 5th literary creation. I put in a truly, madly, deeply inordinate amount of time into the research, put concerted effort into the humor, and did my best to present an entertaining, quality product.

I do admit that the book takes a narrative turn after the events of the flood, but I'm really just mirroring the bibilical text itself in this manner. The adventure is the ark, what follows is life, and since Noah lived long after his heyday event, then the subsequent events must be recorded, despite that they might not be as fascinating, or joke-sprouting. Noah's voice changes as well. I ask that you forgive that, if it troubles you, and instead, please enjoy the overall picture of what I tried to create.

I thank you for interest, and your constructive critique.

[Benjy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read this book yet, but have heard awesome things! Can't wait to get my hands on it!

[Jack · Rating 1 out of 5]

one of the most weirdest books i have ever read. seems like this author was raised in a home with crazy delusional parents based on his writing. this book was so boring i couldn't continue reading it despite me trying to. this is the 3rd book i read from this author. stay away from martin bodeks books they are written horribly and more boring than watching sesame street.

[Margarita Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful read

This is a delightful read of the story of Noah. Gives you a more in depth review of his life. You learn new things from different perspectives.