Twain is like the Bible: there are quotes for everyone, quotes to justify a wide variety of opinions. And it's fascinating to see what kind of exegesis is developed in various different situations, such as how Norman Solomon employs him. That's a legitimate part of a list as this one, no matter what we may think about Solomon's use. As for other lists, I can speak for the Melville list that there have been heated discussions about Melville and the Middle East. Ahab has been invoked in the popular press to describe Osama bin Laden and George Bush. Just read the first chapter of Moby-Dick, and you will see the placards Ishmael displays of his invented play: "Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States. WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL. BLOODY BATTLE IN AFGHANISTAN." You don't think this didn't give Melville readers the fantods? Plus, Melville wrote a huge poem, Clarel, that takes place in the Holy Land and engages dialogues on all the religions, American attitudes towards the Middle East, and even has as a pivotal character an American convert to Judaism who established a proto-typical Zionist settlement (in imitation of the Puritans). It's been rough, and sometimes wayward, but the Melville list has more or less stayed on Melville, despite all kinds of differences. By the way, Twain has done much to create American attitudes towards the Middle East. His descriptions of Palestine in Innocents Abroad have been regularly invoked. I'm afraid it's not possible to escape implications of current events on writers. And as long as we keep to a focus on Twain -- who happens to embrace the entire world -- it's all worthy of discussion. The problem with the Twain list is that it's dead half the time. I don't need "delete," since people seem to delete themselves. Hilton Obenzinger