Kathy O'Connell writes: "Even Twain scholars readily admit that Clemens' greatest book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is second-rate measured against the best work of, say, Henry James." "Whoa! Hold on there, little lady" ! (Yosemite Sam) You call me on of your "friends" and then you try to get that curve ball over the outside?! As a life-long teacher of both Twain and James, a teacher in courses devoted to those authors in particular, I don't recall ever saying, admitting to or even thinking anything like that. James was profound, terrifying, powerful. I keep thinking of his as a man who truly matured into a complex and broadly understanding adult. _The Portrait of a Lady_ leaves me breathless and disturbed, needing to share its insights with others. Twain, as his wife indicated, was always in some ways a "youth." Part of him seems never to have grown past fourteen, maybe twelve. BUT I have never ranked any of James' novels among our five best. And I have always thought of _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ as one of those. In fact, in recent years I've expanded the list to six with _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court_. Score: Twain 2, James 0. We all come to such judgements with our own biases. Many will disagree with my estimates of Twain's relative value. But your statement is far too broad to be accurate. Otherwise, I enjoyed your article and, since I couldn't be there, thank you for sharing your knowledge of the conference with us. Viva! Frank Henninger [log in to unmask]