Christian Science (Skeptic's Bookshelf) (ISBN 0879758252)

This Is How It's Done:
Twain amusingly eviscerates Mary Baker Eddy and her religion in this still-amusing book. A century later, his deft skewering of religious foibles and fantasies still delights. Would that he could see the world of today: Christian Science still exists, though in a much shrunken form, and hundreds (thousands!) of equally improbable cults thrive alongside it. Where's Twain now that we really need him??

Twain also admired Mary Baker Eddy:
When Twain penned this book in 1907, the idea of spiritual healing was radical and new to this time and perhaps more than a little frightening. After all, in the early 20th Century, the "scientific method" was all the rage and with the advent of the germ theory, folks were pretty confident that all the answers lay in science. But this is the 21st Century and hopefully, we know better now. Spiritual healing has been proven to be a real and true alternative to conventional medicine. Harvard Medical School now offers courses on "spirituality and healing" and "Spiritual healing practices." I suppose it was easy to take potshots at Mrs. Eddy's new religion in 1907 when so many in the media were ready to denigrate a woman for having the nerve and audacity to establish a healing system (and a church and an international religion) wholly independent of the patriarchal and male-dominated field of medicine. And to show Twain's confusion over this, he also stated in THIS book: "She (Eddy) was the most interesting woman who ever lived and the most extraordinary...It is 1300 years since the world has produced anyone who could measure up to Mrs. Eddy's waistbelt."

Bad Medicine:
The book begins with a comic tale of how Twain once fell over a cliff in a remote area of Austria, and "broke some arms and legs and one thing or another." There was no medical doctor around, so someone suggested a Christian Science doctor a few miles away who could cure anything. Twain sent a messenger to fetch her. She sent a message back saying she couldn't conveniently come that day, but that there was no hurry since there was nothing the matter with Twain. "Did you tell her I walked off a cliff seventy-five feet high?" Twain asked the messenger. "Yes." "And struck a boulder at the bottom and bounced?" "Yes." "And struck another one and bounced again?" "Yes." "And struck another one and bounced yet again?" "Yes." "And broke the boulders?" "Yes." "That accounts for it; she is thinking of the boulders. Why didn't you tell her I got hurt, too?" "I did. I told her what you told me to tell her: that you were now but an incoherent series of compound fractures extending from your scalp-lock to your heels, and that the comminuted projections caused you to look like a hat-rack.. . . She said you would have these delusions, but must pay no attention to them. She wants you to particularly remember that there are no such things as hunger and thirst and pain." OK. That's funny, but the book quickly descends into the ranting and ravings that were a hallmark of much of Twain's writing in his waning years. Like Twain, many of the other people who have reviewed this book on Amazon obviously have a bone to pick, so to speak, but other than having a friend who died of Christian Science when I was in college, I have nothing in particular against CS or other forms of wishful thinking. I do have strong feelings about the book, however. I have read all of Twain's books, many of them several times. I love Twain's writing, but I rate this book, along with What is Man, at the absolute bottom of the heap. It is not particularly funny and Twain's arguments are often muddled. For example, he spends several paragraphs "proving" that because Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of CS, once mentions the Virgin Mary, Jesus, and herself in that order in the same sentence that she must rank herself above Jesus since the Virgin Mary obviously ranks below Him. I did NOT enjoy this book, and if I ever get to Austria, I shall throw my copy off a cliff, if I can find one with sufficiently jagged boulders.

Christian Science and Mark Twain:
It's interesting to read this book after 100 years have gone by. Twain, a self discribed cynic would by nature write this type of book. None the less, If you know people that have been healed by CS, you realize the impact that CS has on society over the last 100 years. I wonder what MT would have written about Martin Luther?

One of my favorites:
I recommend all books by this author. I also love the fact that the publisher, 1stWorld Library (or 1stWolrd Publishing) has made the text slightly larger which is a blessing for my thirty-something eyes. Great job. I have dozens of books by this publisher. The Second Declaration Wild Knowing Every Day A Miracle Happens Les Miserables, Volume I & II THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO Vol II Animal Farm Planets American Buddha Your Star Child: Attracting, Birthing and Parenting an Evolved Soul The Devil's Disciple