It seems as if some folks would rather "read between the lines" than read
the lines. The "science" of psychology--yea, even that of Literature (much
less
the American branch) is but a couple of hundred years old, at most.
Composition  and rhetoric, however, as well as the scholarly study of
history, are
thousands  of years old.

I will reserve judgment on Mr. Robinson's latest work until I've had a
chance to study it. That Sam felt guilt about some things, and that he felt
it
acutely, should be no more of a surprise than the operation of slavery in
Missouri prior to the Civil War. Did the guilt of that system weigh the man
down
and shape his outlook to a greater degree than the many joys of  his life?
The
problem with biographies is the writer picks and  chooses those events,
words,
situations that bolster some pre-conceived  theory. And, like DeVoto and
others have said, this is all speculation--yet  if one is in a revisionist
mindset, why, it can sell books.

Now, don't take anything I say here as insightful. I urge you to  read
between the lines, tell me why I hated my mother, and  fit your vision to
conform
with your theories.

David H Fears
"What Twain scholarship needs more than another literature professor, is a
good historian"