The Diary of Adam and Eve
May 21, 2007
The Diary of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain is full of chuckles and wry satire. “Principles have no real force unless one is well fed” is the excuse Adam gives when eating the forbidden fruit that Eve offers. In the foreward, John Updike alludes to Twain’s earlier work Letters from the Earth in which Twain explored biblical themes, the book is made up of the letters written by fallen angel Satan to his friends still in heaven. I had forgotten about this book which I read in high school and remember it being a riot especially for any fans of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles books or C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters.
The Diary of Adam and Eve will have you laughing out loud as Adam struggles to figure out just what exactly Eve is as she relentlessly pursues him day after day. This probably isn’t the book for you if you can’t appreciate some good Genesis bashing and other biblical re-interpretation. Twain’s humor truly shines in this tidy yet powerful volume.
reviewed by Jonas
