I've just been looking at Mark Twain studies on amazon.com and noticed
something remarkable. See if you can guess what the amazon pages for the
books listed below have in common.
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Berkove, L. & Csicsila, J., HERETICAL FICTIONS: RELIGION IN THE
LITERATURE OF MARK TWAIN (2010)
Bird, J., MARK TWAIN & METAPHOR (2011)
Caron, J., MARK TWAIN UNSANCTIFIED NEWSPAPER REPORTER (2011)
Coulombe, J. L. MARK TWAIN & THE AMERICAN WEST (2011)
Harris, S. K., GOD'S ARBITERS: AMERICANS & THE PHILIPPINES (2011)
Howe, L., MARK TWAIN & THE NOVEL (1998)
Hsu, H., SITTING IN DARKNESS: MARK TWAIN'S ASIA (2015)
Justus, J., FETCHING THE OLD SOUTHWEST: HUMOROUS WRITING FROM LONGSTREET
TO TWAIN (2004)
Knoper, R., ACTING NATURALLY: MARK TWAIN IN THE CULTURE OF PERFORMANCE
(1995)
Kolb, H. H. MARK TWAIN: THE GIFT OF HUMOR (2015)
Krauth, L., MARK TWAIN & COMPANY: SIX LITERARY RELATIONS (2003)
Krauth, L., PROPER MARK TWAIN (1999)
Kupersmith, A., TWAIN & FREUD ON THE HUMAN RACE (2009)
Lai-Henderson, S., MARK TWAIN IN CHINA (2015)
Lowry, R. S., "LITTERY MAN": MARK TWAIN & MODERN AUTHORSHIP (1996)
Melton, J., MARK TWAIN, TRAVEL BOOKS, & TOURISM (2002)
Mensh, E., & H. Mensh, BLACK, WHITE, & HUCKLEBERRY FINN (2000)
Messent, P., MARK TWAIN (1997)
Messent, P., THE SHORT WORKS OF MARK TWAIN (2001)
Quirk, T., COMING TO GRIPS WITH HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1993)
Quirk, T., DICTIONARY OF LITERARY BIOGRAPHY: MARK TWAIN’S HUCKLEBERRY
FINN (2008)
Quirk, T., MARK TWAIN: A STUDY OF THE SHORT FICTION (1997)
Railton, S., MARK TWAIN: A SHORT INTRODUCTION (2003)
Robinson, F. G., et al., THE JESTER & THE SAGES: MARK TWAIN IN
CONVERSATION WITH NIETZSCHE, FREUD, & MARX (2011)
Robinson, F. G. IN BAD FAITH: THE DYNAMICS OF DECEPTION IN MARK TWAIN'S
AMERICA (1992)
Robinson, F. G. THE AUTHOR-CAT (2007)
Robinson, F. G. CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO MARK TWAIN (1995)
Sloane, D., MARK TWAIN'S HUMOR (1993)
Sloane, D., STUDENT COMPANION TO MARK TWAIN (2001)
Wieck, C., REFIGURING HUCKLEBERRY FINN (2000)
Wuster, T., MARK TWAIN, AMERICAN HUMORIST (2016)
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Did you guess correctly? The answer is that none the books in this list
has a single customer review on its amazon page--and this list is only a
sampling of Mark Twain books without customer reviews.
It's awfully deflating to spend years working on a book, only to see it
virtually ignored after it's published. I'd therefore like to suggest
that each of us (me included) take a few minutes to go on amazon and
distribute a little praise where it is due. We've all gotten a lot out
of the work of our colleagues. Would it kill us to show a little
appreciation in return?
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