The comments about Austen remind me about my first attempt at a Ph.D at a university which shall remain anonymous. I wanted to specialize in early American and write about Twain for my dissertation, but I wanted to minor in 18th century British as well because I was interested in the history of satire. I approached one of the resident 18th-century British scholars--a man who is (or, perhaps, was) a recognized authority on Austen--to be on my committee. He refused to serve because of Twain's comments about his beloved Austen. At the time, all I'd read of Austen was _Pride & Prejudice_, and I haven't felt compelled to read anything else by her through the ensuing years. Jim McWilliams