He was bursting=20

> > with ideas and tended to put 'em all down on paper. Many of his books=20
> > are uneven in tone, for example -- with some parts played for farce,=20
> > some for tragedy.=20
> >=20
> > Sentence for sentence, I personally think he is as great a utilizer of=20
> > the English language as anyone I have ever encountered, dead or living.=
> =20
> >
>

This unevenness is exactly what got me deeply interested in Mark Twain.  I
was happily reading the first part of Life on the Mississippi and got to the
catastrophe chapter (about Henry's death).  I was
completely disconcerted, unsure what to think.  I
had to find out about his life to understand the terrific
contrast in tone.  Looking into the question resulted in my 183 page
Master's Thesis and my fascination with him ever since.

Arianne Laidlaw