TWAIN-L Archives

Mark Twain Forum

TWAIN-L@YORKU.CA
Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Condense Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Content-Type:
text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Date:
Wed, 5 Jan 2022 20:43:35 +0000
Reply-To:
Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:
Re: Postal Service
From:
John Peter Zavez <[log in to unmask]>
MIME-Version:
1.0
In-Reply-To:
<[log in to unmask]>
Content-Transfer-Encoding:
base64
Sender:
Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (1 lines) 
MT was likely thinking of bureaucrats when he wrote the following in TS:  The librarian “showed off”—running hither and thither with his arms full of books and making a deal of the splutter and fuss that insect authority delights in.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Scott Holmes
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2022 3:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Postal Service

I recently came across a reference to an essay by Mark Twain entitled "Postal Service".  This was in a series of essays written by David Graeber included in a book entitled "The Utopia of Rules".  He remarked "Mark Twain, who lived briefly in Berlin between 1891 and 1892, was so taken with it that he composed one of his only known non-satirical essays, entitled “Postal Service,” just to celebrate its wondrous efficiency.".  This was in reference to the German postal system.  I have been unable to locate this essay by Twain.

I'm casting about for interesting bits about Twain's dealing with bureaucracies.  I know there are far too many of them to deal with this comprehensively but I do hope to catch the flavor.

ATOM RSS1 RSS2