I can't agree that Keillor was "scathing" in his review, but any one might feel disappointed, depending on expectations. I thought he had it mostly right. There will be many folks this Christmas who will be given this volume, and it will go right onto their shelves in a conspicuous spot, without much more than a skimming sort of read, because they too had expectations. The skimming will not even have to look for the reference to Paige's testicles caught in a vise, since Keillor cites it. I wonder how many people bought the book because they think that there will be lots of similar passages in a volume supposedly suppressed for 100 years? Such is the way of the world, with the trail of the serpent over all. -----Original Message----- From: Mark Twain Forum on behalf of Scott Holmes Sent: Sat 12/18/2010 8:52 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Garrison Keillor on the autobiography Much as I was a fan of Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion", I'm a bit disappointed in his appraisal of this volume. I have to think that Mr Keillor is a reader of the New Yorker and has taken his clues from therein. As Twain says, "...the latest review of a book was pretty much to be just a reflection of the earliest review of it; ". For myself, I enjoy what amounts to the character development (of Mark Twain) afforded by the "stream of consciousness" approach and do not expect the deliberate structure required of a novel or travelogue. On Fri, 2010-12-17 at 12:11 -0800, Arianne wrote: > Here's the link: > > http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/books/review/Keillor-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 > > Arianne Laidlaw > > On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 7:44 AM, Jerry Vorpahl <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > The front page of today's NY Times features a long and scathing review of the Mark Twain Autobiography by Garrison Keillor that's sure to annoy Twainophiles for some time come,