i don't know that i ever fully read this book when young. some of the early stuff felt vaguely familiar but much did not. while it's a great story i'm left thinking two things. one, i think i enjoyed the descriptions of old america found in main street by lewis more than twains. while this is a great picture of a young man's life and you get some of the peripheral landscape, i felt like lewis drew a deeper picture of the whole world your were peering into. secondly, based on some small examples of heard about, i think i might enjoy twain's personal writing and letters more than his novels. i will get to verify this shortly as his autobiography is on my shortlist.