OK, let me try this once again and this time from my computer instead of my
phone.  Hopefully it will not be garbled.

The reason I said, "Good grief," is that I've always had a high (perhaps at
times misplaced) regard for people in academia.  I would think if someone
formerly from the Library of Commerce wrote a book about such a public
figure as Mark Twain, they would strive to get it right.

Until I became acquainted with the scholars on this Forum I had never seen
such detailed reviews of the extremely fine points of Mark Twain's life.  I
must say, had I been aware of the collective wisdom here I would have been
shaking in my boots when I first realized that some of you were going to be
reviewing The Twain Shall Meet.

Thank God for Deb Gosselin and her research skills! Perhaps the authors
from the Library of Congress should have hired Ms. Gosselin.

Regards,
Susan Bailey
Co-Author: The Twain Shall Meet
Greenville, SC

On Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 3:03 PM, Kevin Mac Donnell <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> The letter from Harry L. Katz and Tom Wiener (both retired from the =
> Library of Congress) in response to my review of their book, Mark =
> Twain=E2=80=99s America (by =E2=80=9CHarry L Katz and the Library of =
> Congress=E2=80=9D) arrived in my mailbox while I was on the road and =
> unable to spare a moment to reply; hence the slight delay.
>
> What I see in that letter is a cautiously worded expression of regret =
> but not an apology. This reviewer does agree that this matter may be =
> regarded merely as a situation in which a source was =E2=80=9Cmistakenly =
> omitted from [their] Bibliography and Acknowledgements.=E2=80=9D=20
>
> This 244p. book has perhaps 110pp. of actual text (excluding the copious =
> illustrations, the many extended quotes, the preface by James =
> Billington, the foreword by Lewis Lapham, and the 8pp. index). In those =
> approximately 110pp. are more than 100 factual errors and more than 400 =
> sentences and phrases copied verbatim from at least four copyrighted =
> sources (the source count has doubled since I wrote my review).
>
> Their letter concludes that the authors wish to =E2=80=9Cmove forward to =
> make [their] Twain book the very best it can be.=E2=80=9D This reviewer =
> does not think a book so freighted with the intellectual property of =
> others and burdened with so much misinformation can move forward at all. =
>    =20
>
> Kevin Mac Donnell=20
>
> Reviewer of Mark Twain=E2=80=99s America
>
> http://www.twainweb.net/reviews/KatzLOC.html
>



-- 
Best regards,
Susan Bailey
Greenville, SC
www.marktwainonline.com