Dear List-members;

I have two questions, one tougher than the other (I'll let you decide which
is which).

1.  I am interested in the response of list-members to the use of the
personal and/or autobiographical in Twain Studies.  This may have come up
over the recent past, but specifically I am thinking about Shelley Fisher
Fishkin's recent book _Lighting Out for the Territory_.  How do you all
respond to the highly personal and at times idiosyncratic aspects of that
book, or others?
        For starters, by the way, I want to state my sincere admiration for
the book.  I view Fishkin's research to be extremely learned, and her
interdisciplinary approaches very powerful in making her case for Twain.
Frankly, it was a joy to read (twice, in fact). I say this to avert any
mistaken impression that I am attacking Prof. Fishkin.  At the same time,
however, I was wondering about other reactions to the use of the personal
in her fine book, but also in other recent Twain scholarship.  Of course,
the recent brouhaha on the LIST about Andrew Hoffman's conclusions comes to
mind, but let's not beat a dead horse.  Any thoughts about the pros and
cons of what we might term "autobiographical criticism" of MT would be
appreciated -- along with any suggested sources which discuss this topic.
One good albeit thin place to begin, by the way, is the recent symposium in
PMLA on the topic (which included essays by Michael Berube and Cathy
Davidson).

2.  Now, totally unrelated (as far as I can tell, that is):
Should one of us scholarly types be lucky enough to spend a semester or
year in Germany and/or Austria, what kinds of archives, info, etc. on Twain
exists there for research, and where specifically?  Furthermore, what kind
of specific research could and should be undertaken in Germany by a Twain
scholar?

Thanks in advance for any input on either question.

Harold K. Bush
Konan International Exchange Center
Konan University, 8-9-1 Okamoto
Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658, JAPAN