Twain thought that the explosive conclusion to CY was funny, when it seems more horrifying than amusing to most contemporary readers. Two of the best essays I can recommend on CY, both touching on this issue, are Ann Douglas, "Art and Advertising in CY: the 'Robber Baron' Revisited," _Canadian Review of American Studies_ 6 (1975): 182-195 and Judith Fetterley, "Yankee Showman and Reformer: The Character of Mark Twain's Hank Morgan." _Texas Studies in Literature and Language_ 14 (1974): 667-79. For a very dark view of Twain's conclusion, see David Ketterer, "Epoch-Eclipse and Apocalypse: Special Effects in CY." PMLA 88 (1973): 1104-14.