LISTERS: Just a quick word on the Mysterious Stranger symposium last weekend, in Elmira. Again, the Elmirans were great hosts, and I send out another thank you. The trees were in a jolly and colorful mood, and the weather was perfect. The brand new statue of Livy is on display in the same courtyard as Sam. And the flights to and from Philly were almost bearable. Joe and Chad did a great job putting the package together, and I look forward to the book coming out, next year from Missouri Press. The consensus seems to be that 44 is now widely considered a major achievement of Twain's final years. How that came to be is a funny and enlightening process over many years: Alan Gribben gave a masterful and very complete outline of the story's complicated history and reception, which I believe is a summary of his introduction to the Missouri volume. Personally I find the book interesting but tough to teach. I would welcome any comments or anecdotal evidence either pro or con that view. I taught it once, and found that some students adored it, most disliked it, and several actively loathed it -- not unlike certain other books that I have used exactly once in the classroom, such as Gibson's NEUROMANCER. Though a few brash and roguish students loved Gibson, most thought it was impenetrable hogwash. (I am not calling 44 hogwash, but just wondering: Am I being unfair to 44??) Harold K. Bush Saint Louis University