Thank you, Alan Reese, for explaining clearly and concisely what the MT
Forum
readers seem to be objecting to, and what Hoffman apparently never will be
able to see.  It's not Hoffman's "New" Twain that is objectionable but
Hoffman's "method" of finding this new Twain.  and with a figure as popular
as Twain among the reading public, it is double obnoxious because, unlike
the readers of the Forum who have enough scholarly experience to identify
questionable "research," many in the general population may not be able
to analyze the "research."  It's such sensationalism that has many times
helped us humanists lose credibility with the general public.  If the
evidence
is there, Twainians will welcome it, I have no doubt, but if it's foundation
is a "pile of noodles," we can only hope the common sense will reveal such.

(Sorry for the typos).
Miriam Shillingsburg