The following book review was written for the Mark Twain Forum by Alan
Gribben.

~~~~~

BOOK REVIEW

Rasmussen, R. Kent. _Critical Companion to Mark Twain: A Literary Reference
to His Life and Work_. 2 vols. Illus. New York: Facts on File, 2007. Pp.
1140. Hardcover. $125.00. ISBN 978-0-8160-5398-8.

Many books reviewed on the Forum are available at discounted prices from
the Twain Web Bookstore, and purchases from this generate commissions that
benefit the Mark Twain Project. Please visit <http://www.twainweb.net>.

Reviewed for the Mark Twain Forum by:
Alan Gribben
Auburn University Montgomery

Copyright (c) 2007 Mark Twain Forum. This review may not be published or
redistributed in any medium without permission.

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. Then came Robert L. Gale's two-volume _Plots
and Characters in the Works of Mark Twain_ (1973). Suddenly a person could
easily review the literary figures and their actions in Twain's published
as well as unpublished writings. Among other things, Gale's book was a sign
of Twain's academic ascendancy, but to the practicing scholar it more
fundamentally meant hours saved--lots of hours--because the episodic nature
and the wide breadth of Twain's oeuvre often makes it difficult to recall
when a certain character appears (or reappears) or where a particular
incident occurs.

Since Gale's groundbreaking guide arrived on the scene, various publishers
have provided a crowded bookshelf of scholarly aids to assist the critic
and researcher. Numerous quotation handbooks, bibliographies, and
collections of interviews and reviews have tremendously facilitated Twain
scholarship. In separate and lengthy essays _The Dictionary of Literary
Biography Series_ took up the subject of Mark Twain from numerous
perspectives, including his reputations as a novelist, short story writer,
realist and naturalist, humorist, and journalist. James D. Wilson's
excellent _A Reader's Guide to the Short Stories of Mark Twain_ (1987)
elaborated on one of Twain's genres that had received short shrift. J. R.
LeMaster and James D. Wilson's ambitious 825-page compendium, _The Mark
Twain Encyclopedia_ (1993), discussed topics as wide-ranging as
"Edinburgh," "Editions," "Free Thought," "German Language,"
"Impersonators," and "Jesus" besides supplying summaries of Twain's works
and listing relevant secondary sources.

That latter book, _The Mark Twain Encyclopedia_, was followed by three
significant volumes that expanded on its format and contents. R. Kent
Rasmussen's _Mark Twain A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and
Writings_ (1995) dazzled readers with its sheer comprehensiveness, going
beyond plots and characters to list the myriad people, events, and locales
in Twain's life. Gregg Camfield's _The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain_
(2003) became the most openly opinionated of the reference works, offering
engrossing and sometimes almost whimsical essays. Peter Messent and Louis
J. Budd's _A Companion to Mark Twain_ (2005), formidable in terms of topics
and tone, brought together the observations of thirty-six experts on
multiple dimensions of Twain's background, attitudes, and roles.

For sheer convenience, however, Rasmussen's _Mark Twain A to Z_ has proven
hard to surpass. Now Rasmussen comes forward with an updated and enlarged
version of his own encyclopedia, _Critical Companion to Mark Twain: A
Literary Reference to His Life and Work_, issuing again from Facts on File
but featuring a different, two-volume organization. The wavering
scholar-critic contemplating the acquisition of this $125 reference work is
likely to ask at this point whether a well-thumbed copy of _Mark Twain A to
Z_ might continue to suffice, or whether a financial outlay for the new
version is inevitably necessary.

The answer is that, while the earlier version is certainly advantageous for
rapid consultation, the new _Critical Companion to Mark Twain: A Literary
Reference to His Life and Work_ sets a new standard for completeness and
detail. Its publisher promises 360 new entries and 100 new illustrations.
Often the prior entries are also improved, as with that for the lecture
agent James B. Pond. In the 1995 edition, Rasmussen merely notes that
"Pond's memoir, _Eccentricities of Genius_ (1900), includes a chapter on
Mark Twain," whereas this 2007 incarnation explains that Pond's book "has
three chapters on Clemens, including one that provides a first-hand account
of their trip together in 1895." The entry for sculptor Karl Gerhardt is
now accompanied by a photograph of Gerhardt's bust of Mark Twain. There is
an entire entry for "deaf-and-dumb characters," whereas previously there
was none. A lengthy paragraph is devoted to "The Sweet Bye and Bye," a
sentimental song to which Twain alludes in several of his works. The Zulu
tribe has a separate entry this time. The previous edition summarized the
careers of the noted Twain scholars Walter Blair and John S. Tuckey, but
this 2007 book pays tribute as well to Hamlin Hill, Louis J. Budd and
Everett Emerson. An added entry even discusses Clemens's mustache--its
first appearance and his references to his shaving difficulties. One of the
most engaging new entries takes up the topic of Twain's various book
dedications.

Whereas in the 1995 volume fewer than eight total pages were given over to
"Books by Mark Twain" and "Suggested Reading," in the 2007 update a massive
132-page Appendix section presents the reader with a "Chronology," "Books
by Mark Twain," "Suggested Readings" (now annotated),  "Mark Twain Sites on
the World Wide Web," "Novels about Mark Twain," "Filmography,"
"Mediagraphy" (audio-visual materials), "Glossary" (in which words like
"blatherskite" are defined and illustrated), and "A Mark Twain Calendar of
Days" (ticking off Twain's principal activities and events, day by day).

On the other hand, a few of the briefer entries have disappeared from the
encyclopedia section, and are placed instead with the expanded discussions
of the literary works in which they appear--"Abblasoure" and "Cambenet,"
for example, English villages that figure in _A Connecticut Yankee_ appear
in a section titled "Characters and Related Entries" immediately following
the discussion of "Dramatic Adaptations." Likewise "Pudding Lane" from _The
Prince and the Pauper_ . The new arrangement for the material is believed
by the publisher to work to the advantage of students who are new to
Twain's works.

The largest adjustment for those accustomed to Rasmussen's simpler 1995
encyclopedia will be getting used to the two-volume format. Volume II
supplies the historical, geographical, and biographical information. It is
Volume I that treats Twain's literary works individually, and these
examinations are quite painstaking--even, for instance, giving the
little-appreciated "A Dog's Tale" more than two and a half pages. What
makes this first volume of particular interest to working scholars is the
meticulousness of each of these analyses of Twain's stories, essays, and
novels along with their receptions. For most works, Rasmussen, assisted by
John H. Davis and Alex Feerst who contributed "Critical Commentary," not
only offers sections titled "Synopsis," "Background and Publishing
History," and "Characters and Related Entries," but then adds a
"Bibliography" of selected publications. Thus the entry for "Extracts from
Adam's Diary," for example, concludes by referring the reader to scholarly
commentary by Lawrence I. Berkove, Stanley Brodwin, Shelley Fisher Fishkin,
Ursula LeGuin, and James D. Wilson. That for "What Is Man?" recommends
scholarship by Sherwood Cummings, Charles Johnson, Tom Quirk, John S.
Tuckey, and Linda Wagner-Martin. Rasmussen's original description of
_Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ occupied only fourteen pages; here Twain's
masterpiece is accorded sixty-three. The seventy-nine chapters of _Roughing
It_ also had fourteen pages in 1995; now thirty-one pages are lavished on
that episodic travel narrative, including a precise run-down of the
twenty-seven colorful characters mentioned by the garrulous Jim Blaine. The
essays about _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_ consider such subjects as "Boy
Capitalist," "National Myths," "St. Petersburg: From Supreme Idyll to
Theater of Hypocrisy," "Playing by the Book," and "Dramatic Adaptations."
How much more could a student, professor, or independent scholar want at
one's finger-tips?

Back to that initial and basic question, then. Yes, it would indeed be
possible to go on studying Twain and his writings without owning this
two-volume set. But a scholar or critic who elects to skip this purchase
will be missing out on R. Kent Rasmussen's incredibly massive tribute not
only to this American author's contemporary milieu and literary output but
to the entire enterprise and achievements of Mark Twain studies as well.
_Critical Companion to Mark Twain: A Literary Reference to His Life and
Work_ represents an incredible accomplishment for this most productive and
resourceful of the Twain reference experts. Again all of us in the field
clearly owe him a major and long-term debt.

_____

ABOUT THE REVIEWER: Alan Gribben is head of the English and Philosophy
Department and Dr. Guinevera A. Nance Alumni Professor at Auburn University
Montgomery.