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Date: | Sun, 18 Dec 2011 04:48:55 -0800 |
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The image of your father's enjoyment of this story is one that will stay with me
for a long time, Kent.
It's one of those stories that gets funnier every time I read it --
Shakespearean, almost, with its tale within a tail within a tale within a tale.
And the disturbing bit acts as a hook to take you deeper. That gives me an
idea, actually. I was trying to decide which Twain story I wanted to use in my
next blog for _Humor in America_, on how exploring the context of a joke makes
it funnier. This could be a fun choice.
Anyway, I'm delighted to have been a little help -- and am looking forward to
the book when it comes out. And no -- I wouldn't know Pitman shorthand if it
bit me. Or if it pulled my tale.
Cheers,
Sharon
________________________________
From: =?windows-1252?Q?Kent_Rasmussen?= <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Fri, December 16, 2011 4:56:20 PM
Subject: Re: Query about quote
The passage you found is better than a "best guess," Sharon. I regard it =
as
a dead cert that it's the very passage Mark Twain's correspondent was
thinking of. His wording is a little different, but it contains all the k=
ey
elements of the TRAMP ABROAD passage. Moreover, I can appreciate why he
singled it out as a favorite: When read in its entirety, the anecdote abo=
ut
uncertain identities is very funny. It was one of my father's favorite Ma=
rk
Twain passages; he would laugh till tears came to his eyes when he told
others about it. I'm getting old enough myself to appreciate it more ever=
y
year. These days I often meet people who seem already to know me but whom=
I
can't quite place.
Thanks very much, Sharon. You've saved me the embarrassment of sending my=
book to press with a simple research question unanswered.
You don't happen to read Pitman shorthand, do you?
Kent
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