It seems as if some folks would rather "read between the lines" than read the lines. The "science" of psychology--yea, even that of Literature (much less the American branch) is but a couple of hundred years old, at most. Composition and rhetoric, however, as well as the scholarly study of history, are thousands of years old. I will reserve judgment on Mr. Robinson's latest work until I've had a chance to study it. That Sam felt guilt about some things, and that he felt it acutely, should be no more of a surprise than the operation of slavery in Missouri prior to the Civil War. Did the guilt of that system weigh the man down and shape his outlook to a greater degree than the many joys of his life? The problem with biographies is the writer picks and chooses those events, words, situations that bolster some pre-conceived theory. And, like DeVoto and others have said, this is all speculation--yet if one is in a revisionist mindset, why, it can sell books. Now, don't take anything I say here as insightful. I urge you to read between the lines, tell me why I hated my mother, and fit your vision to conform with your theories. David H Fears "What Twain scholarship needs more than another literature professor, is a good historian"