I can't access the entire article, but I can say that most of the material in this first volume has been published before, in Michael Kiskis's edition of the the _North American Review_ articles, _Chapters from My Autobiography_, and in the various editions over the years, from Paine to Neider to _Mark Twain in Eruption_. I know I've read much of it multiple times. I don't know about 95%, but certainly the editors don't try to hide this fact, either; they're completely open about the fact that much of this first volume has already been in print, sometimes multiple times. They've openly stated that most of the previously unpublished material will be in the next two volumes. What's new is that in this volume, the material is unexpurgated, reorganized in its intended shape rather than according to anyone else's notion of narrative. And, actually, I find that intended shape closest to the _Chapters_, but a bit less constrained than the _North American Review_ format. It seems that by the time he began publishing those chapters, Twain had hit on his rhythm. But unlike Gopnik, I don't find the repetitions or restorations exasperating or the new _Autobiography_ to be the " 'Royal Nonesuch' of American literature," though in some ways, considering the splash it is making, I can see why he might view it in this jaundiced way if he didn't pay enough heed to the editors' admission that much of it has been previously published in different form. He finds it a " disjointed and largely baffling bore" because he's expecting it to be something it's not. But the expectations are his--not those created by the _Autobiography_ or its editors. Really, what the _Autobiography_ in its restored form reminds me of is porch conversation--conversation on the porch with a relative or older friend. Some stories trail off, and new ones come forward; some end abruptly, and you can almost see the clamped jaw, the distant look, or the misty eye; the connections are not always immediately obvious, but they make sense in the ebb and flow. And just like porch stories, some of the joy, the laughter, and the disconcerted "Say what?" moments come in the small changes--changes you only notice if you've heard the story a million times in its other form. The sudden moments of unexpectedly honest interjections or the sudden embellishments hit you before you realize it. These are the joys--and many of these were not, to my knowledge, in the previously published forms, because they were expurgated, victims of taste or the editor's compulsion for coherence or an investment in a view of Mark Twain that differed from his own (I except Kiskis's _Chapters_ from this-- his editing is not intrusive at all). Gopnik sounds as though he had many of the expectations that Neider and Paine had--wanting a coherent story line that fills in all the blanks. Porch conversation, though, shifts with the breeze. I am enjoying reading through the _Autobiography_ as visits with a friend, dropping by to listen to the reminiscences inspired by the moment. Sharon PS--I bet Gopnik hates Faulkner, too. I would imagine that to him, the porch conversationof _Absalom, Absalom!_ is a "disjointed and largely baffling bore." ) ________________________________ From: Harold Bush <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Sat, November 27, 2010 11:51:29 AM Subject: Twain in New Yorker apologies if this is already posted somewhere; but there is a scathing article about the AUTOBIOGRAPHY in the latest NEW YORKER. I'm not sure it will rate with the notorious Jane Smiley piece of several years ago, but it may be close, at least in the spirit of its deeply antagonistic attitude about my adoptive state's favorite son. OUCH! a much shoter e-version of this screed is vailable at: www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/11/29/101129crat_atlarge_gopnik All kidding aside, I'd be interested in hearing others' views of this bitter piece. Also: I think this author --one Adam Gopnik-- claims that about 95% the new AUTOB. has already been published in the 3 earlier versions --is this true, did I miss that somewhere?? best, --hb On Sat, Nov 27, 2010 at 10:07 AM, Ron Owens <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > This morning's (Sat. 11-27) NY Times has an interesting, brief > editorial on Twain's autobiography. "Mark Twain's Big Book" or this > link: > >http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/opinion/27sat4.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a211 > >1 > -- Ron O. in Elmira > -- Harold K. Bush, Ph.D Professor of English Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO 63108 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) <www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>