I read with much interest Harold Bush's review of the new Ron Powers book and look forward to reading it. When working on my dissertation I too was struck by the lack of study in young Sam's early years. At the time, I had to heavily quote from the then new biography, THE MAKING OF MARK TWAIN by John Lauber. If memory serves, it appeared in 1985. It occurred to me that this book seems to have disappeared from all discussions or bibliographies of Twain. Out of curiosity, what reputation does that little book have now? Is it being read at all or is it relegated to the also rans of literary studies?