>* _1601_, because you can't get it anywhere else.

Well, it's available on the web (http://www.pe.net/~jmd/1601.html) but
the Oxford edition is the only one I've seen in a bound volume.

> *_Jumping Frog_, because Roy Blount's forward is so funny it  "warms up"
> the reader to the humor of the young, irreverent Twain himself. Imagine
> seeing Richard Pryor warm up an audience for Lenny Bruce. No, just go
ahead
> and imagine Roy Blount warming up an audience for Mark Twain. There. Nice,
> huh?

Okay, so maybe I need to develop a sense of humor but I did not appreciate
Roy Blount's essay very much.  Clearly, he made some good points but others
failed (for me, anyway).  For instance, several times Blount claims that
_Jumping Frog_ was Twain's finest book but not his best.  His argument
would have carried more weight if he'd mentioned just which book he thought
was best - but that detail was overlooked.  Perhaps some kind Forum member
will take pity on me and explain the difference between "best" and "finest"
in this context.

I'm very happy to have bought the set.  I feel that it is indispensible and,
given the price, you just can't pass it up.  I'm reading the works in order
and maybe, just maybe, I'll actually be able to finish _Joan of Arc_ this
time.

Tony Verhulst