Most of you list members are probably like me, a person who has read a bit
of Faulkner, and perhaps like me, you have not discovered the wild and
glorious humor of his The Hamlet. (I know this is only tangenital to
Twain--forgive me.)

  Just recently I dived into The Hamlet for the first time and was amazed at
the homespun humor Faulkner recorded/created. Why this book is not widely
applauded mistifies me.

  For those of you who grew up in the South and of a certain age, the book
will bring back memories of the old folks and their ways and dialect--I was
a kid in rural North Carolina in the fifties (19-fifties) and I remember
people who spoke and acted like many of the characters in The Hamlet.

  But I offer this email to you mainly because the book is so dang funny
(although I must mention that Faulkner's characters are some of the most
skilfully depicted I have ever read) and because Faulkner surely deserves
acclaim as the second most humorous Mississippi Valley writer, second only
to our beloved Mr. Clemens.

  Again, this is all tangenital to our list purpose, so forgive me and I
will sin no more--and perhaps no less.  Doug Bridges