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Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Joe Vitale <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 11:56:56 -0800
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Parts/Attachments: text/plain (29 lines)
Talk about writing with a pen warmed up in hell!

Before I saw the posted review of my book, I thought my chapter
on Mark Twain was pretty clever...It was always *my* favorite as
I have always loved Twain...I guess I was wrong.

I could address the review point by point and reveal its flaws, but
I'll just say that I never intended or pretended to write anything
scholarly on Twain. That was never the point.

We all know Twain would probably be a "flamer." So what? We all know he
wasn't born doing any "one thing" and had to be trained. Again, so
what? Those statements don't acknowledge how I just gave Twain and his
writings even more exposure, and to business people at that, with an
original twist. It also doesn't acknowledge the insights into Twain as
a speaker that many will discover in my book for the first time
anywhere. I want to remind people that my book was not written for
Twainers, and by my adding Twain to the book I have paid him homage and
added exposure to his works. I think Twain would have liked it.

I suppose it might not help to point out that the 9 pages on Twain are
tiny compared to the total 175 pages of other helpful information in
the book. The American Management Assocation, which published the book,
does not turn out crap. Neither do I.

Thanks for the free publicity, though.

Joe Vitale

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