BOOKS

_Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life
After Death_ By Deborah Blum. Hardcover. 371 pages. Penguin Press, 2006.
ISBN: 1594200904. $29.95. Blum traces the development of both the British
and American Society for Psychical Research (SPR) and examines the lives of
the noted scientists and researchers who risked their professional careers
to investigate paranormal and psychic phenomena. Mark Twain became a member
of the SPR in 1884. Blum provides a valuable historical context for the
publication of Twain's "Mental Telegraphy" which appeared in _Harper's
Monthly_ December 1891. Blum errs, however, in regard to psychologist
Joseph Jastrow's critical response to Twain's article. Jastrow, an opponent
of psychical research, wrote "The Logic of Mental Telegraphy" debunking
Twain's December 1891 article shortly after it appeared in _Harper's_.
However, Jastrow's article was withheld from publication for four years.
Blum dates it as an immediate response appearing in _Scribner's_ January
1892 publication. (Jastrow's article actually appeared four years later in
_Scribner's_ November 1895 issue - following Twain's second article "Mental
Telegraphy Again" which appeared in the September 1895 _Harper's Monthly_.)
NONFICTION.

Amazon webpage for this book is:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594200904/twainwebmarktwaiA

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_Creationists: Selected Essays 1993-2006_. By E. L. Doctorow. Hardcover.
xiii + 178 pages. Random House, 2006. ISBN: 1400064953. $24.95. Doctorow's
collection consists of sixteen previously published essays (some of which
have been revised and updated) which examine the nature of creative
thought. His essay on Twain titled "Sam Clemens's Two Boys" is a revision
of two of his previous essays -- his introduction to _The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer_ from the Oxford edition of Twains works (1996) and an essay on
_Huckleberry Finn_ that appeared in the June 26 and July 3, 1995 issues of
_The New Yorker_. NONFICTION.

Amazon web page for this book is:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400064953/twainwebmarktwaiA

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Barbara Schmidt
Book Review Editor, Mark Twain Forum