Richard Bissell humorously gives us glimpses of his life on the Mississippi River. He amuses the reader as he compares and contrasts his experience with that of Mark Twain. He makes many critical statements about Mark Twain's literary accomplishment and disparages Twain's historical life. Richard hopes you don't compare his life to that of Mark Twain's, because he, Richard was a river pilot and captain for more than 10 years, compared to Twain's short term experience. Spanning decades on the Mississippi, Richard begins as a boy with dreams of piloting and continues on with his journey on his first river craft, his marriage and life on a houseboat, and his success as a captain for many years. Details of each boat he has either made, bought or worked on is vividly described. As he says, quoting Rat: "Remember, there is nothing, absolutely nothing half so much worth doing as messing around in boats — especially on the Mississippi River."
