I want to thank Robert Champ for that admirable bit of literary analysis.
That was just the kind of posting I look forward to.  Now, give me some
time to digest it.  I'm slowly working my way through Neider's edition
of Twain's autobiography and I've seen a large variety of tangental
subjects.  An interesting note about Huck's moral/ethical development,
Tom Blankenship (the model for Huck) is said to have become justice of
the peace in Montana.  I guess he really did take off for the territories.

  On another note, the new book to be reviewed contains Twain's work
on Joan of Arc.  I'd love to get a copy of this, however, I couldn't
in all consciousness guarantee to be able to compose a review, so I
must refrain from requesting a copy.  I have to be careful about this
internet thing, I'm new to it and I've found that it's really eating into
my work production time.  I haven't had this much fun since graduate school.
I had never heard mention of Twain's book until this recent announcement
on the Net and a short mention by Twain, himself, in his autobiography.
The only reason I knew of it was because of a tendency to spend idle hours
in a book store in Portland, Oregon during a long stretch of unemployment.

  It's been several years since I read the book and my copy is on loan to
my librarian friend.  We did discuss the fact that the book is virtually
unknown and came to the conclusion that this was largely because of the
subject, herself.  Joan is a very difficult subject because she does not
fit into accepted female roles and it would seem that she is percieved as
threatening.  I recall getting the feeling that Twain had fallen in love
with his topic and the entire book has a worshipful flavor.  Is anyone
out there in Twain-L land familiar with this work?  I'd like to hear any
ideas regarding why this work is so unknown.  Twain's mention in his
autobiography leads me to believe he considered it a success, that he was
able to craft it into a form he found acceptable.

Scott Holmes