My many thanks to those who sent suggestions on this topic.

I would like to point out, to those interested, a couple of other sources
that I have found useful and about as extensive as I can come up with:

--In Bernard DeVoto's old classic "MT at Work", the chapter on the dark
symbolic writings is quite good and argues very convincingly that his fits
and misstarts were outgrowths of grief.

--in a recent book, "Sentimental Collaborations" by Mary Kete, there is a
very strong reading of grief and authorship, including several chapters on
Mark Twain.

--Grief theorists like Dennis Klass have recently argued against the old
Freudian models of grief work and are now positing a more "postmodern"
theory of grief that seems quite powerful in its ability to help us come to
terms with Twain's grief.  In particular, this model seems more humane and
less condescending to the issues of grief that Twain dealt with so
profoundly, esp. after 1896.
**=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=**

Harold K. Bush, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor
Dept. of English
Saint Louis University
221 N. Grand Blvd.
Saint Louis, MO  63103

314-977-3616;   fax  314-977-1514;  home 636-861-3929