Echoing Pete Messent, if I may presume, I think the transnational Twain is
an area of crucial development.  I've been excited by what I've read and
heard.

And for what my opinion is worth, I think much of the very strong work I've
seen and heard about recently challenges the "accepted" vision of Twain as a
keeper of boyhood and American nostalgia--all of which seem to me about
re-assessing Twain in the context of the eras in which he lived:

1.  Twain as cosmopolitan, looking at the impact of the city (American and
international) on Twain, including the complex intersections of class and
race in various urban environments--and how that complicates our views of
his Missouri novels.  I think race will always be a central debate, but the
new approaches to Twain allow us to see class and how it interacts with race
more clearly, allows us to step back a little.

2.  Twain and domesticity, looking at the impact of family and home on his
writing
(both in his bio and the literary tradition of domesticity).

3.  Twain in the context of the philosophical, religious and cultural trends
of the era.

4.  Twain in the classroom--what teachers can do with all of the new
material, how they can use it

To me, all of this work holds excitement and some danger.  The challenge is
in avoiding "presentism"--the desire to see our own opinions echoed in the
past.   But that's always the challenge, isn't it?  To "bite the bullet," as
Louis Budd has said, and see what is there, rather than what we want to be
there.  In my humble opinion, these avenues (and I know that there is so
much other fine work I'm not aware of!!!) offer strong possibilities for
future study and interest.

Sharon McCoy