My many thanks to those who sent suggestions on this topic. I would like to point out, to those interested, a couple of other sources that I have found useful and about as extensive as I can come up with: --In Bernard DeVoto's old classic "MT at Work", the chapter on the dark symbolic writings is quite good and argues very convincingly that his fits and misstarts were outgrowths of grief. --in a recent book, "Sentimental Collaborations" by Mary Kete, there is a very strong reading of grief and authorship, including several chapters on Mark Twain. --Grief theorists like Dennis Klass have recently argued against the old Freudian models of grief work and are now positing a more "postmodern" theory of grief that seems quite powerful in its ability to help us come to terms with Twain's grief. In particular, this model seems more humane and less condescending to the issues of grief that Twain dealt with so profoundly, esp. after 1896. **=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=** Harold K. Bush, Ph. D. Assistant Professor Dept. of English Saint Louis University 221 N. Grand Blvd. Saint Louis, MO 63103 314-977-3616; fax 314-977-1514; home 636-861-3929