I believe that was the same story included in Ron Hansen
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Hansen_(novelist)>'s historical novel, *The
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Assassination_of_Jesse_James_by_the_Coward_Robert_Ford_(novel)>*
 (1983).

Thanks!
Jon

On Sun, Mar 26, 2017 at 3:26 PM, Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> The only anecdote I have seen is one reported by Opie Read in his book
> _Mark Twain and I_ (1940) -- and unsubstantiated. Read states Twain told a
> group of men that he met James in a "small town store" in Missouri and
> James told Twain "Guess you and I are 'bout the greatest in our line"
> (Read, p. 11).
>
> Writer Max McCoy used the report of this meeting to write a novel of
> alternative history with James proceeding to tell his life story to Twain.
> McCoy's book is titled _Jesse: A Novel of the Outlaw Jesse James_ (1999)
> and rereleased in 2016.
>
> Barb
>