# Gilded Age, A Tale of Today

An audiobook by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, read by LibriVox volunteers (17 h 8 min, English).

The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today is an 1873 novel by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that satirizes greed and political corruption in post-Civil War America. The term gilded age, commonly given to the era, comes from the title of this book. Twain and Warner got the name from Shakespeare's King John (1595): "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily... is wasteful and ridiculous excess." Gilding a lily, which is already beautiful and not in need of further adornment, is excessive and wasteful, characteristics of the age Twain and Warner wrote about in their novel. Another interpretation of the title, of course, is the contrast between an ideal "Golden Age," and a less worthy "Gilded Age," as gilding is only a thin layer of gold over baser metal, so the title now takes on a pejorative meaning as to the novel's time, events and people. Although not one of Twain's more well-known works, it has appeared in more than 100 editions since its original publication in 1873. Twain and Warner originally had planned to issue the novel with illustrations by Thomas Nast. The book is remarkable for two reasons–-it is the only novel Twain wrote with a collaborator, and its title very quickly…

[Listen](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/books/librivox/4097)
[Read the book](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/books/gutenberg/3178/read)

## Chapters

0. 00 - Preface (3:04): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_00_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
1. 01 - Chapter 1 (22:38): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_01_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
2. 02 - Chapter 2 (7:54): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_02_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
3. 03 - Chapter 3 (9:51): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_03_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
4. 04 - Chapter 4 (22:30): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_04_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
5. 05 - Chapter 5 (20:06): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_05_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
6. 06 - Chapter 6 (24:31): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_06_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
7. 07 - Chapter 7 (16:43): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_07_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
8. 08 - Chapter 8 (18:52): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_08_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
9. 09 - Chapter 9 (13:00): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_09_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
10. 10 - Chapter 10 (18:51): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_10_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
11. 11 - Chapter 11 (13:27): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_11_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
12. 12 - Chapter 12 (16:50): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_12_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
13. 13 - Chapter 13 (19:05): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_13_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
14. 14 - Chapter 14 (14:11): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_14_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
15. 15 - Chapter 15 (18:43): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_15_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
16. 16 - Chapter 16 (16:15): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_16_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
17. 17 - Chapter 17 (17:59): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_17_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
18. 18 - Chapter 18 (18:17): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_18_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
19. 19 - Chapter 19 (17:11): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_19_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
20. 20 - Chapter 20 (14:55): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_20_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
21. 21 - Chapter 21 (15:23): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_21_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
22. 22 - Chapter 22 (19:37): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_22_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
23. 23 - Chapter 23 (6:15): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_23_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
24. 24 - Chapter 24 (16:25): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_24_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
25. 25 - Chapter 25 (9:43): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_25_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
26. 26 - Chapter 26 (15:13): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_26_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
27. 27 - Chapter 27 (13:30): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_27_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
28. 28 - Chapter 28 (22:09): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_28_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
29. 29 - Chapter 29 (16:20): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_29_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
30. 30 - Chapter 30 (6:56): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_30_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
31. 31 - Chapter 31 (19:53): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_31_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
32. 32 - Chapter 32 (12:45): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_32_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
33. 33 - Chapter 33 (38:42): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_33_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
34. 34 - Chapter 34 (11:52): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_34_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
35. 35 - Chapter 35 (11:33): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_35_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
36. 36 - Chapter 36 (9:07): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_36_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
37. 37 - Chapter 37 (6:55): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_37_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
38. 38 - Chapter 38 (17:39): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_38_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
39. 39 - Chapter 39 (12:48): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_39_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
40. 40 - Chapter 40 (14:21): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_40_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
41. 41 - Chapter 41 (17:47): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_41_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
42. 42 - Chapter 42 (33:46): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_42_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
43. 43 - Chapter 43 (11:47): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_43_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
44. 44 - Chapter 44 (16:06): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_44_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
45. 45 - Chapter 45 (25:12): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_45_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
46. 46 - Chapter 46 (21:04): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_46_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
47. 47 - Chapter 47 (15:22): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_47_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
48. 48 - Chapter 48 (15:16): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_48_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
49. 49 - Chapter 49 (16:14): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_49_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
50. 50 - Chapter 50 (16:58): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_50_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
51. 51 - Chapter 51 (12:57): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_51_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
52. 52 - Chapter 52 (3:53): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_52_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
53. 53 - Chapter 53 (11:51): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_53_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
54. 54 - Chapter 54 (20:00): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_54_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
55. 55 - Chapter 55 (18:09): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_55_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
56. 56 - Chapter 56 (17:17): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_56_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
57. 57 - Chapter 57 (13:43): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_57_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
58. 58 - Chapter 58 (17:15): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_58_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
59. 59 - Chapter 59 (26:09): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_59_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
60. 60 - Chapter 60 (16:22): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_60_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
61. 61 - Chapter 61 (13:13): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_61_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
62. 62 - Chapter 62 (11:16): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_62_twainwarner_64kb.mp3
63. 63 - Chapter 63 (14:43): https://archive.org/download/gilded_age_1010_librivox/thegildedage_63_twainwarner_64kb.mp3