A good review that answers a couple of questions I had about the work and
its predacessor, _A to Z_. I did choke a bit at the price of these volumes,
and wonder if it were worth it for my work, so now I've answered that
question and have confirmed that the wife will have to wait to buy her
second dress.

One line I also choked on was this: "Only thirty years ago there were no
reference works--other than a compilation of quotations by Caroline T.
Harnsberger--devoted specifically to the works of Mark Twain."? I'm sure
Alan knows of several reference works prior to 1977 on the works of MT, so
perhaps this statement was a bit of a misspeak. Starting with Merle
Johnson's 1910 MT bibliography, Jacob Blanck's 1935 revisions, and Thomas
Tenney's 1977 _Reference Guide_; then Fatout's 1976 _MT Speaking_. and Fred
Lorch's _The Trouble Begins at Eight_ (okay, so not strictly a reference
work), Budd's work on interviews, etc.--plus those Alan mentions did exist.

So, maybe I misunderstood the man, but like I said, good review, and soon
I'll be out $125 (although I saw one discounted price of $118.75, so perhaps
I'll give the wife that $1.25 I'm going to save.)

David H Fears