Stipulating for the moment that the charges which have been leveled
against Andy are true, why was he able to get his ideas published in
_American Literature_?  I had though that the journal formerly edited by
Twain scholar Louis Budd would not publish unresponsible speculation; and,
if it did, would soon correct the problem.

Are there any refutations of Andy's ideas in any literary journal?  Should
I regard articles in literary journals with the same skepticism that I
give supermarket tabloids?

I don't wish to address the questions raised about Andy's book here since
I would not hold his publisher to the same standard I expect of journals.
And please, I don't wish to start a repetition of the debate concerning
Andy's motives and scholarship.  I simply want to know how ideas are
debated in literary journals, how much credibility is given to ideas
published in journals, and how the process corrects itself when a
misleading article is published.  And if it always seems to get so personal!

I hope I don't divert us from our Twain focus.  Thanks.

larry marshburne                  [log in to unmask]