Barb, As a dean I used to work for said, aphoristically, "you've sold the suit!" I must buy! Cal Pritner 565 W. 169th St. Apt. 4-H New York, NY 10032 (212) 568-0109 Website: http://calpritner.com/ Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Mark Twain ________________________________ From: Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Thu, October 7, 2010 10:16:01 PM Subject: Re: thisismarktwain.com There really aren't enough superlatives to describe the job that the editors of the Mark Twain Project have done with _Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1_ (2010). At 737 pages, the Amazon price of under $20 is a true bargain for a hardcover book of this size and scope. Readiing from an advance copy, the first 100 pages alone have provided a clear and concise insight into Mark Twain's creative process for the autobiography; lengthy previously unpublished material; and a keen awareness of how Albert Bigelow Paine and others edited Mark Twain's dictation for public presentation. One brief example regarding a quote related to inventor James W. Paige: Paige and I always meet on effusively affectionate terms, and yet he knows perfectly well that if I had him in a steel-trap I would shut out all human succor and watch that trap till he died. - Mark Twain, A Biography_, edited by Albert Bigelow Paine (1912) Paige and I always meet on effusively affectionate terms; and yet he knows perfectly well that if I had his nuts in a steel-trap I would shut out all human succor and watch that trap till he died. - Autobiography of Mark Twain (University of California Press, 2010) Other editions of the autobiography will now serve as historical curiosities by comparison. Barb