At 01:24 PM 5/26/98 -0500, Laura Skandera-Trombley wrote: >I was greatly displeased to read the Mark Twain list serve's list of = >recommended biographies to find only the ones listed below.=20 > >Kaplan, Justin. _Mr. Clemens and MT_. 1966. > _MT's Autobiography_. Ed. Albert Bigelow Paine. New York: Harper > and Brothers, 1924. > Paine, Albert Bigelow. _MT: A Biography_. Issued in 2-, 3-, and > 4-volume sets. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1912. I'd like to register my agreement with Laura's sentiments, though she might have different reasons for them from my own. I read Kaplan's book on an Amtrak train from Texas to Arizona a few years ago. Back then I was interested in anything I could find out about Twain--not having previously acquainted myself with his (real) life. But I remember wanting to do some damage to Kaplan's person due to his tiresome psychologizing of Twain, making him out to be a virtual Jeckyll and Hyde. Kaplan's book is a goldmine of information, but I would be interested in knowing about any other autobiographies of Twain that are just as rich (or richer) in historical detail, but without all the over-interpretation. Is it too much to ask? :-) Vern