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’s America (by “Harry L Katz and the Library of Congress”) 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 “mistakenly omitted from [their] Bibliography and Acknowledgements.” 

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 “move forward to make [their] Twain book the very best it can be.” 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.     

Kevin Mac Donnell 

Reviewer of Mark Twain’s America

http://www.twainweb.net/reviews/KatzLOC.html