Mark Twain's "Extracts from Adam's Diary" first appeared in 1893. He based Adam and Eve on himself and his beloved wife Olivia ("Livy") to create a humorous counterpoint the traditional Garden of Eden story, this time centered on what life may have been like for the first man.

In this story, we hear Adam trying to work out what the "new creature with long hair" is all about. She names things, much to Adam's annoyance. She follows him around. Then suddenly, there's another creature, which eventually Adam decides is his son Cain. It's all about confusion and curiosity, and finally, love for Eve.

The innocent lark of the first story was joined in 1905 with a more wistful tale, "Eve's Diary". Twain's personal life had been turned upside down by Livy's death in 1904. While the humor of the first Adam story comes through, the Eve tale is, at its heart, a sweet eulogy from an aching heart, exemplified by the Eve story's closing line, "Wherever she was, there was Eden."