I want to return to Gopnick for a moment.  I just finished reading the whole
of his "The Man In the White Suit" piece in the November 29 *New Yorker.  *I
think it's a splendid essay on Twain and on the legacy of his writing in
American culture.  The early reports of the essay on the Forum were unfair
to the depth of this piece and to the broad consideration that Gopnick
brings to his reading of Twain, especially in this essay *Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn.  *Rather than complain the Gopnick must not have read the
whole of the autobiography volume, it is instead clear to me that a good
deal of the complaint against Gopnick must have come from those supporters
of Twain who didn't read the whole essay.  I encourage you all to get a copy
from your library and read it.  It should make us a bit humble in our zest
to be critical of a writer who is, in the end, kin to those of us who
appreciate Twain's complexity.

-- 
Michael J. Kiskis
Leonard Tydings Grant Professor of American Literature
Elmira College
One Park Place
Elmira, NY  14901