The images of Twain cavorting in Tesla's lab which Cheney includes in
TESLA: MAN OUT OF TIME are certainly brimming with possibilities.

I picked this book up from the library, not realizing that Cheney borrows
pretty generously from John O'Neill's material in PRODIGAL GENIUS on the
Twain/Tesla relationship. I've seen the Cheney work cited on this list a
number of times, by several different people, I believe, and I am
wondering why Cheney has received most of the recognition and attribution
for this material. I thought maybe Cheney had new material which O'Neill
might not, but, in comparing their works, I don't see much evidence that
this is the case, at least in the Twain vignettes. Cheney's are a bit
more imaginative and narrativized, but I don't necessarily consider this
a strength because it converts what might be factual into a series of
apocryphal stories.

Any thoughts about these differences? Any ideas on why Cheney's work is
cited instead of O'Neill's? (besides that hers is more recent)

I'm quite interested in how people might be using these references.


Meryem Ersoz
University of Oregon