At 01:46 PM 4/29/97 EDT, you wrote: >Is DeVoto trying to be humorous? Does the first sentence from the intro >to "Extract" even make sense? > If this is >humor, why does his tone not alter from when he is serious? >Am I completely missing the point? If you failed to miss the point, then I really made a fool of myself when reading DeVoto's "Mark Twain's America," an answer to Van Wyck Brooks' "The Ordeal of Mark Twain." Having read the latter-mentioned title, I read the former and pretty near brayed like a jackass through the entire text. I have no idea whether DeVoto was intentionally attempting to be humorous, but to my mind he has a written deadpan style that can't be beat, not even with a schtick. I read the introduction you mention some time ago but do not have a copy right now; however, I do remember being at least slightly amused. Regards Marc "Easily Amused and Unrepentantly Sophomoric About It" Koechig