Thanks to Peg Wherry for her spirited defense of William Dean Howells.  He
was
a dear and tortured man whose friendship with SLC comprised only a small
part o
f his contribution to American letters. It seems to me though that the story
of
 the friendship between the great writers has been inaccuratedly recorded,
at
least as far as its beginnings go. The editors of the _Twain-Howells
Letters_
conclude that the two enjoyed  an immediate rapport when they met in 1869 or
1870, but it seems likelier that their relationship was more professional
than
personal until about 1875, when SLC chose to go to Boston for the weekend to
introduce Livy and Elinor Howells rather than attend the wedding of his
beloved
 niece Annie to Charles Webster, nuptials which would not have taken place
had
he not told his sister Pamela to let Annie marry whom she chose. By the
early
1880s, when SLC and Howells were laughing themselves sick with their
sophomoric
 efforts at playwriting -- and "Colonel Sellers as Scientist" is an
unplayable
mess -- they were closer, but not so close that Clemens doesn't feel pretty
easy about double-dealing Howells out of some theatrical opportunities.  For
example, when it becomes clear that their jopint "Colonel Sellers" won't fly
with a certain produce, SLC tries to turn the relationship the two men
worked
out with the producer to his own solitary benefit, hoping to sell an
adaptation
 of "Tom Sawyer" to him.  A good book could come from this relationship,
akin
to Margaret Duckett's _MT and Bret Harte_, only not quite so terrifyingly
harsh.

andy hoffman