I think between identified Joan of arc as his own lies to his brother
Henry. And his love of Henry is why he loved his book about Joan of arc.
Arianne Laidlaw

On Thu, Jan 24, 2019 at 7:58 PM Steve Hoffman <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Wow.  I have read all 29 volumes in the Oxford
> Mark Twain set EXCEPT for Joan of Arc.
>
> I tried. I really did. I  got a few pages into it,
> but a severe gagging reflect prevented me from
> continuing, and on advice of my doctor, I've not
> opened it again.
>
> Twain is more than an author to me, he is a hero
> of mine, but like all human beings he was fallible
> and if e'er there was a statement with which I
> disagree from the bottom of whatever soul I have,
> it's the statement that Joan of Arc is his best book.
>
> Indeed, although I know that factually it was a
> Mark Twain book, to me it doesn't walk like a Mark
> Twain book nor quack like a Mark Twain book.
>
> Kind of how I feel about Bob Dylan's "Christmas in
> the Heart" album.
>
> I respect that others' mileage may vary.
>
> -Steve Hoffman, Takoma Park MD
>
> On 1/24/2019 12:03 PM, Hal Bush wrote:
> > Do not recall hearing this specific one before:
> >
> >
> > A young boy approached Mark Twain one day, after spotting the famous
> author standing alone on a stone bridge in Redding, Conn. Twain was a
> familiar presence in the community, and the boy had awaited such a chance
> to express his admiration. “I was glad that he was alone,” Coley Taylor
> recalled years later in an article in American Heritage<
> https://www.americanheritage.com/content/our-neighbor-mark-twain>. “I had
> wanted to tell him how much I had enjoyed Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.”
> >
> >
> > But Twain’s response to the young boy’s praise was shocking. “I had
> never seen him so cross. I can see him yet, shaking that long forefinger at
> me,” Taylor recalled. “You shouldn’t read those books about bad boys!” the
> author scolded. “Now listen to what an old man tells you. My best book is
> my Recollections of Joan of Arc. You are too young to understand and enjoy
> it now, but read it when you are older. Remember then what I tell you now.
> Joan of Arc is my very best book.”
> >
> >
> >
> > Dr. Hal Bush
> >
> > Dept. of English
> >
> > Saint Louis University
> >
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> > 314-977-3616
> >
> > http://halbush.com
> >
> > author website:  halbush.com
> >
>
-- 
Arianne Laidlaw A '58